Reunion
by Quinctia
Summary: This is the sequel to FF7: Resurrection. With that said, this is the continuing story of the party. Seven years after the resolution, the party reconvenes to find Shinra reformed from the ashes and exSoldiers getting sick. They find a nemesis that is
1. Part 1: Trail of Tears - Prologue: Sev...

Prologue: Seven years pass, not unmarked.

.

__

Time can flash away

Time may flourish and last forever

Not measured in or by itself

Only how it is perceived

From the outside or farthest reaches

And as time begins and ends

With children, parents, lovers, and friends

Some come as others go

And all that remains is time

Seven years in seven minutes

Or the eternity that never ceases

Many things can be seen, begin to be seen,

But tell me--can you still see me?

Time is only what is made of it

So tell me--what is time?


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

.

(After all this, to come full circle. All the trouble we have gone through, and the one problem still remains. To protect ourselves from the greed and power of money. From the insatiable greed. Shinra.) Raieyana put down the PHS. After seven years of basically no communication, she had been startled to hear it ringing. And after seven years of inactivity, Shinra was at it again. Ironically, they were at again, as simultaneously, severe side effects were popping up in the original members of Soldier. Whether from the Mako or the Jenova remained to be seen. (But they both are in me. By the metric ton. No wonder they called me. But then again, they're calling everyone.)

Raieyana also remembered Barret's words: "I gotta go to work. You gotta get ahold of the people I haven't yet. Yuffie, Vincent, and Reeve."

Yuffie and Vincent, Mr. and Mrs. Valentine, were easy. They were in Wutai, as they had been since they were married almost seven years ago. But Reeve... (Just use the PHS. He still has one, probably. At last resort, I could go to Junon. Well, not really...)

"Mommy?" A small boy tugged at Raieyana's skirt.

"What is it, honey?" she asked.

"Aeris is looking at me funny again!" he looked close to tears.

"Aeris," she called.

His sister peeked from around a doorway.

"Stop bothering Ishmael."

"I wasn't, Mommy," she said.

Raieyana sighed. "Don't you two ever play nice?"

"We played nice for approximately five minutes yesterday," said Ishmael.

She shook her head. "That's because I was in the room with you..."

.

"Ray." Lia walked into the room. "Funny thing, I thought I heard a phone ring. You wouldn't happen to know anything about it, would you?" There were no telephones in Undor-Hai.

"PHS," said Raieyana, "there's trouble a-brewing, with the stench of Shinra. And some Soldiers have been afflicted with some odd side effects to their treatments. Reaction to either Jenova or an excess of Mako."

Lia grimaced. "Sounds serious. Legolas was a Soldier...he's okay."

"But," said Raieyana, "it is, like, the very first set of Soldiers. Treated before I was born. It may eventually affect me, and all the Soldiers from after these few. Barret called. Everyone's coming up here in a couple of days. And I need to call Yuffie and Vincent. And he needs me to call Reeve."

"Are you?" asked Lia.

"I have to try," she said.

"Mommy," whined Aeris.

"Aeris, Ishmael," said Lia, "let's go play with Danny, okay? Your mommy has some things to take care of."

The two kids ran out. "Are you going to tell him?" asked Lia.

"I will when it's time," said Raieyana.

"I think the time has passed..."

"I know what you think," said Raieyana, "and now I have to get in touch with Yuffie and Vincent. ...and Reeve."

************

(_You just stay in Undor-Hai until Alcor gets established. You don't need to be involved in the messy beginnings of a business..._ The last words he wrote to me.) The postscript of the reply he sent to her letter asking for either him to come back home or to let her go to Junon. (I couldn't tell him I was pregnant in a letter, or even over the phone. Too impersonal. And then later, I was in no shape... And afterwards, I didn't want him to come for me because of the kids...only if he loved me.)

Raieyana knew Lia's opinion of the whole situation. She had, several times over the last six-and-a-half years, threatened to go to Junon and "drag Reeve's ass back here with the children where he belongs." (But I swore I would never use my kids as a bargaining tool to get my lover back. And I won't. He will finally know, when he comes.) And Raieyana had firmly believed that if Reeve was meant to know, somehow he would know, eventually. (I promised myself never to initiate anything that would make him pity me. I don't want pity, I don't need help, I already have plenty of support. But now, I have to call him and give him the news. He will come if he wants to.) Raieyana picked up the PHS.

************

"Because of the new Shinra Macroreactor, our profits are down approximately 15.6 percent. We can't ignore this Mako thing anymore. We have to stop pretending it went out of existence when we went into business. It's more reliable, cheaper to extract, and more abundant."

Reeve tossed aside Yorlain's pie chart. "I don't want figures," he said, "I don't need pie graphs, and I have plenty of knowledge of the abundance of Mako energy to be extracted. There isn't an abundance."

"Then, explain why Shinra has more reactors than we have power plants," Yorlain said.

"Yorlain, some of these reactors are almost as old as I am, are plagued by mechanical defects, and use more power to function than they extract. The majority of them operate just to make it seem like Shinra has got the Mako thing under control. But they're running out of Mako and getting desperate. I see this 'Macroreactor' thing as a last-ditch effort to put us out of business so they can buy the land our thermal power plants are on. They know we have Mako, because the heat comes from the Lifestream, and they know we haven't actually extracted the Mako itself. And the figures Shinra gives to its shareholders are incorrect, altered to their favor, probably to scare our shareholders into selling. And if most of them are like you, we're doomed."

"Reeve," said Yorlain, "the share holders want a press-conference or the equivalent. They want to hear you give them hope that we're gonna stay in this thing for the long haul."

"Fine, get me Reno, on the phone, now."

"Not Reno. You remember what happened last time he held one..."

Reeve shook his head. "I'm sick and tired of you telling me how to run this business. Reno is my partner. I'm going to confer with him on what I'm going to say at the press conference."

"Fine," Yorlain said, "I'll page him."

.

Reeve watched him leave, and lit up a cigarette. He took a drag, then opened the bottom drawer of his filing cabinet, reached in the back, and brought out a worn piece of paper. He gazed at the neat, curved script.

_"God, Reeve, you don't understand. I need to be with you. It is really important, not just because I miss you, I swear. Not just because I'm lonely without you here. I have a valid reason. So valid, I would even go to Junon. I would leave. Please, tell me you'll come home. Or you want me to come to you..."_

(She loved me so much. And I said no, just a little longer... Lost her, for this. A business full of problems and money losses. Finally turn a profit, and it's a Shinra revival. Oh well, I always knew that Raieyana would be better off without me. But I don't know if I'm better off without her.) Reeve tried to imagine her face, the way her voice sounded, the exact way she would tilt her head when he said something totally idiotic. But he drew a blank, just as he had that day five years ago when he realized he couldn't even remember her in his dreams. He replaced the letter back into its hidden spot, luckily, just in time. He knew Lavana would laugh at him if she saw him moping over a letter that was almost seven years old.

Lavana smiled, and sauntered over to his desk and sat down on the chair in front of him, pitching slightly forward so he could get the full effect of her low cut dress. "Shit, Reeve, I heard you were giving a press conference," she said.

His mind being completely off someplace, he gave the eloquent reply of, "Huh?"

"You. Speaking. At. Press conference. Totally surprised me. Not that it doesn't turn me on, a surprising thing..."

Reeve sighed. "Lavana, I won't date you. End of story. Two years ago." She looked at him in disbelief.

"I could, you know," she said, "have any man here in the company, on my desk, in my office, now. Except for you. I'm starting to believe you may walk a little on the fruity side, if you catch my drift. After all, Reno and you have a lot of long nights together. Here. Alone."

Reeve stood up. "If you don't have anything useful to say to me, then go. Just because I'm not attracted to you throwing you breasts in my face every opportunity you get, does not mean that I'm gay. Maybe it just means I'm a little more picky in who I want to date. Number one on my 'don't date' list: whores. With number two on the list being employees, you're definitely a 'don't.'"

Lavana started to leave. "Yeah, but you haven't had a date in all the time I've worked here. Look, you're thirty-three years old, Reeve. You're a workaholic. Look at me. I want you. If you're that picky, then I guess you'll be alone."

.

Reeve grabbed his cigarette out of the ashtray. (But I decided that when I decided Raieyana didn't want me anymore. She is the only woman I want.) The phone rang. Reeve picked up the one on his desk. (Nope.) He reached for the cellular in his briefcase. (Nope.) The phone continued to ring. He grabbed the cellular from the desk drawer. (What the--) He held his pager to his ear. (No?!) He paused, and listened carefully.

(The closet? But that's just...the PHS!) He fumbled with his keys, finally finding the one that unlocked his office closet. He fumbled around, finally finding it in and old duffel bag he had used when he went around with Cloud and the others...and Raieyana. He pulled it out, shakily putting it up to his ear. "Hello?" he said. "Hello, who's there?"

************

Raieyana heard his voice.

_"...Hello, who's there?"_

She could barely speak. "Reeve," she finally managed to get out.

_"Raieyana. So, ummm, why...what's going on?"_

Raieyana blanked. "Uhhh, Barret," she said, "asked me to call you because there's been...some trouble with Shinra in Corel...and some of the first men who were in Soldier are having reactions to either the Mako or the Jenova in them. And he wanted everyone to meet in Undor-Hai in three days, but..."

Reeve cut in. _"I'll be there,"_ he said.

"But..."

_"Hey, it's allright. I have a ton of vacation days piled up. I'll be there. God, I wish I could talk more, but I've got a press conference...we'll catch up when we see each other again, right?"_

"Right," Raieyana murmured.

_"Goodbye,"_ said Reeve.

"Bye." Raieyana put the PHS down. (Reeve, you didn't let me finish. No one else can come until the next day. I didn't want you here...just you...with me. I didn't want it to be awkward. But now I can tell him about the kids before everyone else gets here...I guess...)

************

Reeve looked at the PHS sitting on his desk. (It all came back to me...when I heard her voice... Her face...her eyes...her love.)

"Awfully quiet, man, for someone who has to go out and reassure the stockholders we aren't going belly up in the business world." Reno stood in the doorway, pulling off his sunglasses.

Reeve grimaced. "Thanks for reminding me, Reno. What do you want me to say to them? Any specific requests? I can do a decent rendition of 'Come Sail Away' by Styx."

"Somehow," said Reno, "I don't think that would make them any more confident. Just tell them Shinra's sucking up all the Mako and they can't go on forever."

"That's what we always tell them!"

Reno shook his head. "Is there anything we should do besides stick to the original story? I don't think we should lie."

"I don't know," said Reeve, "Shinra always lies and right now, it looks to me like they're going to come out ahead in all this."

"Of course, monsieur pessimist," said Reno.

"Parles-vouz français?" asked Reeve.

"No," said Reno, "I took French for a semester in high school."

Reeve shook his head, and grabbed the paper on which he had scrawled a few, very few, statements regarding the latest Shinra profit report and the effect of it on Alcor. "Guess it's now or never," said Reeve, "by the way, I'm taking a few days off."

"Great timing, partner."

Reeve smiled. "I haven't taken hardly any time off in nearly seven years. Besides, it isn't going to be a vacation. I'm going to see Ray--, I mean Cloud Strife and the others."

"Dude," said Reno, "you trust those bozos?"

Reeve shrugged. "Those bozos saved my ass quite a few times..."

"Yeah, but they kicked mine just as much, if not more."

"You were still Shinra then," said Reeve, "you were the enemy."

"So were you," said Reno.

"I quit," said Reeve, "because of them. And it was the best decision I have ever made in my life."

"See," said Reno, "I quit because I was sick of getting my ass kicked while Elena sat and watched."


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

.

Raieyana was trying to fit into her old dress. There were a few slight problems, however. (Damn it. Okay, got the thing over my hips, over my chest, finally, and what does it do? Hangs like a loose sack because I'm the only reject in the world that loses 20 pounds after her pregnancy. Except for my hips and my chest, where it's about to explode. Damn it.) She ripped out the side seam trying to get the dress back over her hips. She crumpled it up and threw it into the corner of her room.

Shaking her head, she walked back to her closet. (I know! I'll wear all my dresses that fit me like loose potato sacks. Except for the fact that those too, make me feel like I'm going to pop out of the top.) She sighed, and pulled out the one Lia had sewn for her. Custom-fit to her precise measurements. One drawback: it was lavender. (God, I hate this color.) She slowly put it on. It actually came near to the small size of her waist while still fitting over her "problem areas." Looking in the mirror, she was greatly disappointed. (Unless I'm going to wear a muumuu, it has to be the "Tifa Lockhart, enormous chest" look for me.) She pulled a large, baggy cardigan from her closet to cover herself up and walked out into the living room.

.

"So he's coming today?"

Raieyana felt like ignoring Lia's question. "Yes," she said, "just like I told you before breakfast, and after I finished breakfast."

"I'll try to keep the kids out of your hair," said Lia.

"Oh, I'd appreciate that," Raieyana said, "but Aeris, Ishmael, and Danny?"

Lia shrugged. "I'll be fine. Legolas' and my child is perfectly well-behaved."

"I was referring to how they all get when they happen to be within a few yards of each other," said Raieyana.

"I'll do my best," Lia said.

A small girl of about thirteen, definitely in training doing her page duty, came into Lia's house. "There's a man here," she said, "and Lia, he says that he's here to see you and Raieyana. His name is Reeve. I didn't know what to do, so I brought him here. He's waiting right outside..."

"Well, Tonia," said Lia, "for the future, I'd like to remind you that isn't the way we deal with strangers. But this is someone we've been expecting, so it's okay. You can go now."

Tonia left. Lia looked at Raieyana. "Well, aren't you going to say hello and invite him in?"

"Oh, you. You're going to make me do it alone, aren't you?" Raieyana asked. She left to go greet Reeve.

************

Reeve watched the young messenger leave, and wondered if he was supposed to go up. But then he saw Raieyana emerge from the house onto the front deck. (She looks exactly the same. I know I don't. But suddenly, seven years have all slipped away. Those years are gone. And I am back in paradise with my Ray. Ray.)

She looked down at him. "Are you going to come up, or is a ladder too hard for you to climb?"

Wordlessly and swiftly, he climbed the ladder and stood on the deck. (Face to face. Seven years ago, this small moment would have been nothing. Now it is everything. She is everything and everything is her.) He stepped a little closer. "It's great to see you again," he said.

"Yeah, you, too."

There was an uncomfortable pause. "What are we doing? It's been seven years...come 'ere." He hugged her, like an old friend would at a reunion. (We are old friends...yet so much more.) Something about the way Raieyana looked bugged him, though. And she felt...different...in his arms. (This is what I've wanted for so long. But she has changed. I see it now. How could anyone not? To change is to be human. She is human, although I swear sometimes she must be an angel...)

.

"How've you been?" Raieyana asked.

"Don't let me start..." he began. But he stopped when he saw a small little girl of about six peer out the front door and step out towards Raieyana. (God, that kid's a cute little blond thing. I wonder if that's Lia's kid...)

The girl tugged at Raieyana's skirt. Glancing at Reeve with huge blue eyes, she softly whispered, "Mommy? Ishmael's lookin' at me funny again."

Raieyana gave him a little "you know how kids are" look, and, raising her voice, told Ishmael to "play nice."

"But Mommy," a little boy called back, "Aeris started it!"

Turning to Aeris, Raieyana said, "Go talk to Aunt Lia. I bet she'll take care of this, okay?"

Aeris nodded, and with one last shy look at Reeve, went back inside.

"They always fight," Raieyana said softly.

(She found someone else. Ray has someone. Good, she wasn't...alone all this time. Raieyana's a mother. And her children are beautiful, just like her...) But Reeve couldn't stop the sinking feeling that slowly landed at his feet and that had seemed to grab his manhood on the way down.

.

"So who's the lucky man?" he asked.

Raieyana gave him a puzzled look.

"I'm glad you found someone. Beautiful kids, Ray, I...I mean Raieyana. That guy must be good looking to have such nice kids. He's good to you, right?"

She looked at him, painfully. "Reeve...I..."

He shook his head. "You don't need to say anything about being sorry. It would have been foolish of me to even think for a second that you would stay here, just waiting for me."

"Reeve," she said softly, "no one's lucky enough to have me. Did you get a good look at my...my daughter? How old do you think she is? What do you think I did? Got some new guy a week after you left? No. Reeve, you should see Ishmael. He resembles his father so closely. I...I almost named him after you."

The gravity of the words she had just spoken nearly brought him to his knees. "His father...almost named him after...me? Ray, am I...why didn't you say anything?"

"I know I should have. But there's something in me that refuses to say something like that in a letter...over the telephone. Something that wanted to look you in the eyes and know, be able to see, your true feelings. You could have written you were happy in the letters and not meant it. Lied over the phone. But I wanted to be there, see your reaction."

"Why didn't you tell me to come?" he asked.

She looked down. "I tried. But I couldn't beg. And I kind of had hoped that you might come just because I asked you to."

"Where does that leave us, then?" he asked. "You don't have to do anything, Reeve, if you don't want to. I have it all under control. You don't have to be their father."

"That was my little girl," he said, "and something in me just wants to go and hold her. Make up for..." (Anna.)

"Lost time?" said Raieyana.

He nodded. "...and other things."

Raieyana turned towards the door. "Let's go inside," she said.

.

"Has it been hard?" he asked.

Raieyana laughed. "Not really," she said, "I just had to get used to it."

"How...old are they?" he asked.

She shrugged. "Almost six and a half. They were premature by about a month and a half. Part of it was, of course, twins come early. Another thing may be...Jenova, Mako."

Reeve looked surprised. "What? What could any of those things do?"

Raieyana paused, then started to explain.

.

"Vincent says he is thirty-four. If that was true, then Sephiroth cannot be traced far back at all. If we assume Vincent was, say, eighteen when he was a Turk, that only dates Sephiroth at nine years old...when he died. But you and I both know that if that was true, my existence at my age is impossible. So either Vincent is lying or... But even with the whole Sephiroth thing aside, there is something involving the Jenova or the Mako that causes accelerated growth and development. Just think. Aysta and I skipped two grades in an exclusive private school. We went to Undor-Hai, and were doing serious training in weaponry at age eleven. Our kids were born early. Lia and Legolas' son was born slightly early, and he was just in Soldier. All of Vincent and Yuffie's kids were born early."

.

"Your theory," said Reeve, "makes a lot of sense out of some things I haven't been able to explain myself."

"I guess, but do you think I know this thing, inside out? I don't understand why it happens. Look at me. When I was a little girl I was what, two years ahead of everyone? How come now, everything has come to a standstill? I'm not aging rapidly, I developed somewhat rapidly. How is it that the rapid growth and everything stopped and left me here? I can't look at this objectively...but I know I'm not that different from when I was sixteen. I haven't changed like Yuffie has. She's gotten more mature and grown up a little more. Not much has happen to me, though. I guess I had reached this peak point, comparable to a person in their early twenties, and just stopped... I came to a standstill? What did Hojo know?"

Reeve shook his head. "Hojo didn't know jack," he said.

"Normally, I would agree with you," Raieyana said, "in this case, though... I mean, he made me... He knew enough to be able to stop this process. But maybe, we might find out, he never understood how to stop it permanently."

.

Raieyana paused, to breathe.

"Hey, Reeve," said Legolas.

"Long time, no see, man," said Reeve. They shook hands.

"Ray, where's that lovely wife and the beautiful child of mine about whom I love to brag?" Legolas asked.

Raieyana shrugged.

Lia emerged from on of the hallways, carrying a pudgy four-year old. Aeris and another boy followed behind her. "Hello, Reeve," Lia said.

Legolas gestured to the sleeping child. "That's our son, Daniel--we call him Danny."

"You've already met Aeris, Reeve, so that's Ishmael," said Raieyana.

He gave her a questioning look. (Sure he looks like me...but you named him after your Ish.)

"Ishmael," she said again, almost sensing how he felt about his son's name. (Not Ish,) she thought as she looked back at him (Ishmael. He's your son, Reeve. Because I wanted you. Not Ish. And I will never call your son Ish. But I didn't want him to be forgotten, Ish was such a quiet soul...)

Reeve knelt down and looked into warm brown eyes that mirrored his own. "Hi," he said.

"Hi," said Ishmael shyly.

"I gave them dinner," said Lia, "but I thought you might want to say goodnight."

"Of course," said Raieyana, and took her son by one hand and her daughter with the other and started to lead them to their room.

Aeris paused, and turned around. "'Night, Mister Reeve," she said, overcoming bashfulness to wish the guest a good night.

Reeve smiled. (She looks like Anna. Talks like Anna. But she called me mister. I want to hear her say, "father.")

************

Raieyana left to go for a walk, and Reeve, in typical Reeve fashion, left and followed her. "Raieyana," he said, "I want to be part of this. Their lives. I want them to call me 'Daddy.' My kids, Raieyana. She called me 'mister.' Right now they're only yours. I want to raise them together. I want them to have a family. The family you couldn't have--the one you need now."

"Reeve, don't say things you don't mean to me. You can be a father to them. Of course you can help. But I'm not going to trap you in a life you don't want with me on account of something that we had almost seven years ago. You don't have to live in the past to have a future with the kids, waste your life with me. I don't care if you don't want a relationship with me except through the children." She lowered her voice. "It won't bother me if you don't want to be with me."

"Then say it," said Reeve, "without any emotion. Say it indifferently. If you swear it doesn't bother you, then don't say it with your voice so full of feeling."

"I'm not."

"Tell me you don't love me, but do it like it was nothing. Say it like I was just some old thing from your past that you found in the attic and dusted off before you remembered the reason why it was put away in the first place. Don't lie to me. If you care, then tell me. How else am I going to know?"

.

She shook her head. "I'd rather you go then stay and not be sure. We've both changed. We're both older, things have happened...we've both had time to consider mistakes and other actions in the past that maybe we don't want to repeat again. I don't want to tie you down."

Reeve looked at her funny. "Raieyana," he said, "I wish you would let me consider my own needs and turn a little more attention to your own. What do you want? What do you need? Don't worry about me. I promise no matter my reason for deciding whatever I decide, I'll be good to you. I'll be good to you."

She wrapped her arms around herself for warmth, and turned towards the sea breeze. "I don't want to tie you down," she said again, repeating the words.

Reeve watched her for a moment. Then he headed back to Lia's house.

.

Reeve quietly let himself back in the front door.

Lia was sitting there, waiting to speak with him. Waiting to tell him something she had held in for years.

"Where's Legolas?" asked Reeve.

"In bed," she said.

He gave her an odd look and headed towards his room.

"Wait," she said, "I have something to tell you. But first, did Raieyana tell you how she's been?"

He shrugged. "She's been fine, I guess. At least that's what I've gathered from what she's been saying..."

Lia shook her head. "Not a word, not a word. Ray... Well, I figured it would be up to me to tell you, but I had hoped she would have enough figurative balls to tell you herself..."

"What?"

"You really," she said, "really have no idea, do you? Why Raieyana never made that much of an effort to contact you while she was pregnant? No word afterwards? I'll tell you why. From about the third month on, she was deathly ill. She nearly died giving birth. Bedridden for three months after the twins were born. Look at her. The person that I would have said had the healthiest constitution seven years ago...she's weak. She's thin. Sometimes she shivers in the night with the chills...sometimes she burns with fever. And if it's the Mako, or the Jenova, then what will be, will be. Like it's supposed to be. Like it has to be. But part of me just won't let go of the fact that she was the strongest person I know. Before she was pregnant. She was stronger seven minutes after she came back from the dead then she is seven years after her babies were born. Why? Somehow, something...inside me...puts part of the blame on you...because you weren't there. And Ray wouldn't let me quote-unquote 'disturb you' after she had recovered enough to argue with me. But I should have, I should have..."

Her words trailed off as Reeve rushed to his room. He turned to face her. "Maybe you should have, Lia," he said sharply, "or maybe you shouldn't take it upon yourself to let me know things that Raieyana would rather have kept quiet."

Lia looked him straight in the eye and shrugged. (Now he knows what he should know. And no matter how much she wants to push him away to avoid getting hurt again, this boy's here for good. If I know Reeve. And I think I know Reeve.)


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

.

Reeve sat on his bed. An involuntary shudder went through him as he considered the suffering of the woman he loved. (I love? Of course. I still love her, because I never stopped.) He seriously contemplated the thought of just leaving. (Without me, she would never have gotten pregnant. This is the second time I've almost killed her. She may not believe it, but naming our son "Ishmael" was unconscious wishful thinking on her part. Because if she hadn't of been with me, Ishmael Deline might still be alive. And he would never have left her for any reason, no matter how short the time. He would have come back even if he thought she didn't love him anymore. He would have come to her if she even hinted at it, instead of passing over her queries as loneliness for him. Like he would ever have been so smug to think she asked him back because she was longing for him, only because of longing for him. He would have been around to raise his children, not wasting his time in a business in Junon founded with former Turk Jack Reno. And his family wouldn't have slipped through his hands. Raieyana, the kids. Mom. Anna...) He got out a pen and paper. And began to write...

_Austin was a buddy from ol' Junon Academy. We were roommates at Midgar Business School. He wasn't a bad guy, really. The kind of pal you take home and show your mother and she's glad because he gets good grades and doesn't use drugs and only drinks when it's wine at communion. We were sixteen, so there was nothing odd about how he was horny 24-7. When you're that age, looking at linoleum makes you wanna have sex. So the girlie mags and pictures off the 'Net didn't bother me that much either. And I thought it was kind of cool how he had a new girl every week, and every once and a while he got a piece. At that age, that sort of thing raises you in the eyes of your peers. I never really suspected he had a problem._

Austin didn't have a real family, so on holidays he would come home with me and visit with my mom and my eight-year-old sister Anna. (My dad died when Anna was one and I was nine.) Anna was the sweetest, shyest little girl you could imagine. She thought Austin was "cute," and Austin would always play along, calling her his "girlfriend." It was the sweetest little thing. He started at the business school when he was around fourteen, so this thing went on for about two years. Around the major holiday in my household, it had become tradition for Austin to babysit my sister while my mother and I went out shopping for gifts for Anna. (And a couple for Austin as well.) But this time, when I came home...

.

__

"Hey man," said Austin, "when's your mom coming in?" He looked worried.

"I don't know. She's leaving Anna's gifts at my uncle's house so Anna can't find them," I said.

His eyes grew wide. "I don't know what came over me," he said, "and she screamed so I held my hand over her face and I guess she suffocated."

"What?" I asked.

"Look, it wasn't my fault. There was something wrong with her. She would always try to touch me and she was always getting me up and I finally gave in. And then she didn't like what she asked for." His eyes glowed. He had gone to a Soldier military-type school for a year before joining the class at the business school. He had already had some Mako/Jenova treatments done. There was a half-mad rage in his eyes.

"Are you talking about Anna?" I asked.

He shrugged. "The little bitch can't take what she needs," he said.

Sometimes he had spoken about ex-girlfriends like that. I had never thought much of it. But this was...

"My sister?" I asked, shoving him against the wall, "my eight-year old, little, innocent, sister!"

.

__

I never heard my mom come in. I would have stopped her. But she slipped in, and went to my sister's room. And she found the bruised, beaten, torn body of my sister. Anna. I might not have heard her come in, but I heard the scream... I don't clearly remember what happened next, but I remember... Getting the gun. Loading the gun. And the fear in Austin's eyes. I remember the bang of the gunshot, and the silence afterwards.

For some reason, Soldier (the acting police of Junon) believed my story of Austin's suicide. He had already been labeled "volatile" and "unstable." They also knew by looking at my rage and sadness that he really had killed and molested my sister. And my mother...she died...after she put a bullet through her head. She didn't wait to see if I had been charged with Austin's death. She just assumed, as most do, that the authorities go on the truth. Not on the story of an angry, young aspiring businessman who had good reason to avenge his sister. But I had never picked up a weapon since that day until the time I was in Undor-Hai. And Lia handed me the knives. And that opened the gateway to me holding the sword and killing my...the only woman I really loved. Raieyana.

And I blame myself for Anna's death. My mother's, as well. Even if my expensive psychiatrist told me my mother shot herself because she was a manic depressive. He didn't seem to see that if I had seen how warped Austin was, my sister would be alive, I would not have killed Austin, and my mother would have had no reason to kill herself. I should have seen there was something wrong with Austin. Testosterone, Mako, Jenova? I don't know. But I do know Aeris, my daughter, looks like Anna. And I will watch over Aeris and keep her safe. Safer than the woman she was named after--and safer than the girl she takes after. And her mother--Raieyana, I love her. And I will give her no more pain. Not physically, nor emotionally. And if I have to leave to do that, I will. But I want to hold her again, touch her again. I miss my Ray, the ray of light in my darkness, who kept watch over me when I slept, who loved me unyieldingly, to whom I owe everything...maybe even my sanity.

Reeve finally slipped into a troubled sleep, haunted by the faces of Austin, Anna, his mother, and of Ishmael Deline.


	5. Part 2: Where Angels Burn - Chapter 4

Chapter 4

.

Raieyana checked on Ishmael and Aeris before heading to bed. (Asleep. And so peacefully, too.) She had startled herself with her reaction to Reeve's words. (He wants a life with you, Ray. With you--still. And you...I'm just pushing him away again. Because I'm too proud--because I think that I'm so strong that I don't need anyone. Ever.) She slowly started changing into a T-shirt and a pair of flannel pajama pants. Then she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. (The collarbone is extremely pronounced, the shoulder blades and ribcage easily seen...and I think I'm strong?) Raieyana shuddered involuntarily. (I'm weaker than someone on the verge of death. Because I'm having delusions that I am so strong. But I'm not. And that could kill me. More easily than Sephiroth ever could have.)

The funny thing was, in the conversation, she could tell that Reeve had anticipated her self-reliant stance towards their relationship, or lack of such. There was no suspicion of her own personal motives in the fact that he had been misled to come a day earlier than the others. (Maybe I could have tried harder to tell him...but then, maybe a chance to break the news alone was what I wanted, deep down inside. After all, "Hi, how's it been? By the way, you have two six-year old kids..." is not the way to break the ice of seven years of silence.) She climbed into bed and lay down. She closed her eyes as the rush of emotions overcame her. (He's here, just right next door...here, after all this time...) She clutched her blanket and pulled it tighter around herself. (He's here, from way back when...when he used to hold me...when he loved me...)

************

The voice held her. Back from what seemed like a thousand years, and it still held her, now. The voice which she had believed belonged to Sephiroth, and that was now grasping at her like a blind man stumbling in his unique darkness... And it hurt, and threatened, narrating a web of horrible tales as it spoke of the future. Her future.

_"It all comes down to power," _it said_, "power and the desire for power. The craving that leads the men who are able to handle it, and some who are unable to handle it, to search for it. And although few find it, the hunt destroys those lost along the way. Those who find this precious power, those worthy of it, become their own end through it. Some find their end through the very means used to accomplish their goals. Who alter their physical being, on account of their enslavement to this desire, for power. They have had use of the power without paying the price set for it. If you take out a loan for ten thousand gil, eventually you must pay it back. If you take out a loan from the physical world for physical power, you must pay it back. But if you have nothing remaining in the physical world, perhaps this debt is paid from the spiritual frame..._

"Do no pity the Soldiers in suffering now for their desire of power in the past. They have reaped the rewards, and now must pay back that which is owed. Everyone has this desire for power: me, Reeve, Cloud, all those former Soldiers, and even you yourself. Some of us overcome the desire. Some aren't allowed to fulfill their desire. Some are given the power as a birthright. Most of them squander it and pay dearly in the next plane. A few have payback in the physical realm, suddenly losing the gift that they were born with. And those given the Mako, Jenova, for strength and excellence, will find out the penalty may be unbearable. But those born of strong body, will, and mind will pass through the fire, but not unscathed, and pay their debt to power... And what of you? See your future through my eyes..."

Raieyana pulled suddenly from the abyss of her dream. She closed her eyes, as if to ward of the flashes of scenes of horror that she had seen. (I am...I am in all of them. What price do I have to pay? I've been murdered, beaten, seen most of the people whom I love die, yet still I have a debt to whatever decided in the beginning to give me physical power? And what now? I'm weak, frail, closer to death now than I was moments after I returned to life. But I owe? Why, because some scientist created me in his twisted image of a human woman? He is dead, he died quickly, and I will be penalized for his lack of foresight? He tried to bring me above humanity; will that attempt drag me below humanity, into the agony of those sick men? And other good people, too, like Cloud, Legolas, and Vincent? My children, my innocent children?) Raieyana tried to hold back tears as she thought of her plight, and that of her children. (What is going to happen to us? And whose fault is it? But most importantly, can it be stopped?)

************

Morning brought more visitors to Lia and Legolas' house. First to arrive were Yuffie, Vincent, and their three kids: Kati, 7; Sean, 5; and Azura, 2.

"I'm sorry, but we had to bring them along," Vincent apologized, "I wasn't about to leave them alone in the care of Godo."

Yuffie glared at him. "He is my father, you know."

Vincent shook his head. "He's drunker than Cid, and you know it!"

Lia smiled. "It's okay, I can get someone to watch all the kids. But first, meet Danny." She softly coaxed Danny out of his hiding spot behind her. She glanced around. "Hey Reeve," she said, "go find Ray and her kids, would you?"

He nodded, but the words cut him like a knife. (She said go find Ray and her kids. Her kids. Not your kids. Because they're not mine. As of now.) He went to find Raieyana and her kids.

.

"So how is Raieyana doing?" asked Yuffie in a low voice. Yuffie and Vincent were the only ones in the group who had remained in close contact with those in Undor-Hai except for Ruther.

Lia shrugged. "She's getting stronger...but she's still not well. At least not as well as she thinks herself to be, at any rate. I'm afraid for her. Especially now that these Soldiers are having all these problems. Afraid for her, her kids, and, of course, Legolas and Danny."

"I have often wondered," said Vincent, "whether or not Hojo's alteration of people's physical states would have any adverse effects. I just hope it's not too late to prevent them from happening to everyone who has been changed."

.

"Hello." Everyone looked up and saw Raieyana.

"Hi," said Yuffie. (Raieyana, girl, you're still so painfully thin... It scares me.)

"Hello," Vincent said. (She is so weak now. And there was Hojo's attempt to make her super-strong. But it did not prevent this. Soon, she may be plagued also by the side-effects of Hojo's rashness.)

"Aww, your kids are so cute," Raieyana said.

Yuffie shook her head. "These little monsters? Come on," she said, "so are yours. Cute to the extreme." She cast a side-long glance at Reeve. (They take after their parents... I wonder if he knows.) She caught the pained look on his face when he looked at Aeris and Ishmael. (He knows.)

.

The group was interrupted by the outcry of a very familiar voice. "I don't got no invitation! Don't need one, 'cause I organized the meeting! And if you don't get your white ass up there and tell Lia or Raieyana that I'm here, I'll help it out, if you know what I mean!"

Lia's eyes opened wide. "Be right back," she said, then hurried outside to see what problem Barret was having.

"Lia," wavered Tonia's frightened voice, "I tried to tell him you said..." She was close to tears.

Barret showed no sympathy, however. "I ain't comin' to take over the joint, and that's so damn obvious! Hell, I have my daughter with me! Tell her, Marlene! Marlene?"

Marlene emerged from behind a tree. "God, Dad, why are you always embarrassing me? She's just doing her job, and, like, could you use language that was any more profane?"

.

Lia intervened. "Look, Tonia. Be on the lookout for a few more people. Let them up without such a hassle. Barret," she said, addressing him, "she's just doing what I told her. Remember, it's not so easy to get up here. I mean, I threatened you all the first time you came up the trail. Finally, Marlene, he could use more profane language. I know from experience."

"So," said Barret, climbing up, "who all's here?"

"Only Reeve, Vincent, and Yuffie. Well, and their kids..."

"Whose?" asked Barret, confused.

"Just come in and you'll find out," she said simply. (I have no idea what the hell Ray and Reeve are going to tell people about their kids, but I'm not going to screw up and say something that they don't want me to.)


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

.

Everyone had arrived at last. No one had actually expected everyone to come. Reeve was probably the most likely candidate anyone would have picked to blow off the meeting. But he was the first one there. And they all had a stake in this, whether through a grudge to the Shinra, or through the knowledge that they themselves or someone they cared about may soon be afflicted by the Soldiers' ailment. And Shinra's uprisal could affect them all; Reeve had money riding on it.

A lot can happen in seven years. Everyone looked older. Some showed the effects of time more than others. Some came with their children. Even Tifa. That was a mystery to everyone. Barret, and Cloud to an extent, had kept in touch with her, and neither one had known she'd had a child. Or been in any relationship, for that matter. But there was sweet little Marta, with her brown curls, only two. Tifa didn't speak a word about Marta's father, and no one pried. That's not what they were there for. And Ruther wasn't even really there. His wife Elsie had come. To say Ruther had fallen ill. That the problem wasn't only affecting the old Soldiers anymore.

************

"We were in Mideel," Elsie said, "and all of a sudden, he just got really sick. He's had a high fever, and he's been delirious. The doctor said...he said that he had recently been seeing a lot of this, with men who had been in Soldier. So I told him, that's what it probably was. And he suggested that I take Ruther to a Shinra hospital in Edinborough..."

"Edinborough?" asked Legolas.

"The city Shinra built on the island of the Temple of the Ancients," said Cid.

Elsie continued. "So I told them no, because I knew that the Shinra had no idea what caused this, and I couldn't trust them for a second. The doctor called me a fool. I told him it would be better for Ruther to be sick in Mideel than be sick and under the control of the people who made him sick."

.

"So," said Legolas, "why Ruther? We've been best friends since childhood. We joined at the same time. Why him first? Why not us both at the same time?"

"Why not me?" said Vincent quietly. "I was a Turk before any of you joined Soldier or were in the clutches of Hojo."

"Maybe he was weaker than you all," said Red XIII, "the Jenova and/or the Mako enhanced his abilities, made him stronger. Perhaps, perhaps, could this be the ultimate price for the knowledge of strength?"

"Come again?" said Yuffie.

"It's just a theory I've had," he said, "and it has been reinforced somehow...by a dream."

"'But those born of strong body, will, and mind will pass through the fire, but not unscathed, and pay their debt to power...' I think it's a question of who would have been strong enough beforehand," said Raieyana, "and the price we have to pay for trying to evolve into something beyond a simple human being. I have excelled past everyone I've known in the areas of strength and intelligence. Maybe Hojo's experiment succeeded. But maybe it has yet to fail. There was something he didn't know. You just don't play God. You don't play around with things you don't know, beings who fell from the sky--without any consequences. I mean, I seriously don't think he meant this to happen on purpose."

"I fell into the Lifestream," said Tifa, "what about me? I've grown noticeably stronger since I took my dip in the Mako pond."

"She's had no Jenova in her. I guess it has to be the Mako," said Legolas.

"There's something with the Jenova," said Raieyana, "I can sense it." (I remember some sort of bond between everyone in this group who had Jenova. And...and...the flash...of something...of It... But what can we have in common? Cloud, Vincent, Legolas, Ruther, Red XIII, and I? And Hojo, Sephiroth, Blane, Aysta, Ishmael? What links us? The similarity the Jenova accounts for? I can almost see it...)

.

Tonia came into the room. "It's pretty late, Lia." She had been watching the kids, with a little help from twelve-year old Marlene.

Cid checked his watch. "We've been talking for hours, and we've gotten nowhere. We just have these cute little 'theories.' Wake me up tomorrow when you talk about what Shinra's been up to. This Jenova shit does not affect me whatsoever." He walked off to his room.

Yuffie and Vincent got up. "Have to put the kids to bed," he said.

"Yeah," muttered Yuffie, "and we're really tired."

Lia got up and followed them. "I'll handle Danny and Aeris and Ishmael, but Reeve, if you'll help me... Everyone else sit tight and I'll get the rooming situation figured out. Oh and Tifa, I'll put Marta to bed, too."

"Thanks Lia," said Tifa.

************

Lia and Reeve passed Yuffie and Vincent in the hallway. They were each carrying a sleepy child. "I'll come back for Kati in a sec," said Yuffie.

Reeve swallowed. (She takes it for granted. Holding her child. I wonder if I'll ever get to hug one of mine. Since Raieyana hasn't warmed up to the idea of starting over. But I'm to blame for that.) He was about to walk into the room where the kids were playing, but Lia stopped him.

"Just for a minute," she said, "they're talking, so let's listen. They say the cutest things when they're little."

.

"Did you see my Daddy? He's tall an' big an' strong," said Daniel, "and 'sides, he doesn't look funny, like Kati's Daddy."

Kati smacked Daniel on the arm. "My Daddy might look weird, but at least I have a daddy," she said, smirking at Aeris.

This almost enraged the sensitive girl to tears, but Ishmael held out. "I think our Daddy's in heaven," he said, with the appropriate gesture upward, "that's why we don't have one. Same with our grandmas and grandpas. But they're all happy an' playin' together. So don't get Aeris upset. She really wishes she could see our Daddy."

.

Lia blinked back tears. (It's so sad.) She glanced at Reeve. (And he didn't know about them. He really doesn't deserve to hear this.) She put her hand on his shoulder. "It's not your fault," she whispered, "but you can solve the problem. But now, they need to go to bed."

So Reeve followed Lia into the playroom to put the children who didn't know he was their father to bed.

************

Raieyana stood up, with a noticeable effort. The action of standing up, however, gave her a dizzy spell.

"Whoa," said Cloud, standing up, "here, I'll help you get to your room." He placed her arm around his shoulders and held her at the waist.

"Thanks," she said. Halfway down the hall, she started to detach herself. "I'm feeling okay now. I guess the blood just rushed to my head a little." She felt a little embarrassed. (I can walk by myself, you know!)

"You don't look like you've been feeling too well lately," Cloud said softly, "but you're still as beautiful as ever..." A slight brush of her cheek with his hand, a slight lean closer on his part, and suddenly Raieyana felt very uncomfortable.

She stepped back. "I have to give you Brownie points for perseverance, but I still feel the same. Although I'm flattered..."

"What," he said, "because of what happened seven years ago?"

"No, I told you before, even if what had happened, hadn't, I still wouldn't..."

Cloud looked at her in wonderment. "Reeve and you have not seen each other in years. He's probably slept with twenty or thirty other women since you. Forgot about you long ago. But still, you tell me I never get a chance because of Reeve. Why is he so desirable? He left you."

Raieyana looked down. "I let him leave," she said softly. She glanced at Cloud. "Thank you for helping me to my room. Good night."

************

Cloud had just entered his room when a soft knock came at the door. "Who is it?"

A pause. "It's Tifa."

He opened the door and invited her in. "Boy," he said, running his hand through his hair, "it's been a long time since we've talked."

"A year and a half. And since then, I've done some thinking. We never know when something might happen to one of us, and I just want to tell you something...before...before it's too late."

Cloud looked at her. "Tifa...don't..."

"What," she said, "don't say something you'll regret you heard? Cloud, it's been so long. I can't deny what I feel anymore, I can't just sit back and be silent. I love you."

He shook his head. "Tifa, you don't know what you're saying."

Tifa stood up and looked at him mournfully. "What, you don't think I have enough of a clue to understand my own feelings? I know I've done things and made a fool out myself. Because of you. And you, look at you. You're a pretty damn big fool. Aeris is dead. Raieyana doesn't want you. And you blow off the one person in this world who truly loves you. You know what? I'm glad I didn't wait for you. Damn glad I didn't save myself for you. That I didn't stop living because of the jackass who I thought maybe cared about me--just a little."

Cloud looked away. "I can't love you, Tifa."

"Why? Because I'm attainable? Sometimes I wished that Aeris hadn't died. Sometimes I wish that I had died. Because then I would have been the one you pine for. And she would be the one going through this hell that you've made for me! But...you will start to realize how bad it's going to be to be alone. Because my love will fade, and when it's gone, it's gone. But at least I still have a reason to live for. And it's not you anymore." Tifa turned and started to leave. "Oh," she said as she left, "don't worry. I won't bother you with this again. I'm not stupid. You said 'no.' And no means no."


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

.

Reeve stood in front of Raieyana's door, took a deep breath, and knocked lightly.

"Come in," she said.

Reeve walked in. "Hey," he said, "I put the kids to bed. They're cute. Tell me Raieyana. When are you going to tell them who I am? When do I get to start doing what I'm supposed to as their father? I want to work out visitation, child support, anything, but damn it, these children of mine are not going to grow up not knowing me. I owe it to them and to you and to my own parents. I'm just not going to leave for Junon in a day or two and forget that I brought kids into this world. I..."

"Reeve." Raieyana broke in. "I never said you couldn't help. But this has to be done gradually. It'll be a bit of a shock to the kids. And seeing you again will be a bit of a shock to me. I've gotten used to doing things on my own." She shivered. She got up and got another blanket from the closet. "So," she said lightly, "tell me about Alcor. And what's new at Shinra."

Reeve shrugged. "Alcor deals in thermal energy from the Lifestream. We've just begun to turn a profit, but Shinra has reemerged with this 'Macroreactor.' I personally think they're trying to drive us out of business to buy out the land our power plants are on so they can get the Mako. Jack...Reno, he's really settled down. Actually does a pretty good job as my partner, considering the circumstances we're under. Maybe you can come see it all sometime."

She smiled. "Maybe I will after our little meeting with everyone is over."

He glanced at her. "Raieyana...I...(love you--still)...sleep well."

She hugged him softly. "Thanks. For what you've offered to do for the kids. No matter how you ever got involved with Cloud and the others to begin with...sometimes I think that you have the best intentions now of all."

(I just love money, Ray. That's all it is. And I want my kids. And I want you.) He turned to leave. "I'm next door. If you need anything...just holler."

************

Scarlet was irate. "Alcor would have been out of business long ago if I was the sole decision-maker."

Heidegger laughed. "I have a funny thought when I picture that. You know, Scarlet, you would have driven Shinra into obscurity if you were left alone. Who's responsible for Edinborough? The Macroreactor? I guess I'm not the ass you think I am."

Scarlet raised an eyebrow. "Shinra would be more successful if you thought I was more than a piece of ass."

"Dressing the way you do, you should be glad that I think my piece of ass has any mental functions at all. I'm amazed that Rufus ever appointed you to the executive board. As a general rule, the person you're screwing isn't your most intelligent acquaintance."

"Heidegger, Scarlet." The arguing co-presidents were interrupted by the Head of Science and Technology, Professor Lucas Shelding. Coincidentally, he was also the captain of the company softball team, area champs for three years in a row!

"Yes, Luke?" said Scarlet, gazing at him in way she thought was seductive.

"In searching in the ruins of the original Shinra building, I've found dome startling documentation of the late Professor Hojo's early experimental Soldier treatments."

"You're mixed up," said Heidegger, "Professor Gast did all of the original Jenova experimentation."

"Actually, no. Gast did tests to try and prove Jenova was an Ancient. Hojo assumed she was and immediately began experiments using her cells, genes, and DNA--involving animals and humans. He was encouraged by the president to find a way to make men faster and stronger for a new army called Soldier. Now the men who received the treatments are ill. Using his laboratory documents and diaries, I think I can figure out what's causing this...illness. And, of course, find a way to improve on the process. I may have in my hands the way to create another Soldier who can fight like Sephiroth...but without the danger of Sephiroth. Of course, I'll need some more funds."

"Will three million gil cover the first year?" asked Scarlet.

Lucas nodded. "Probably."

"Then get to it," said Heidegger.

************

_"Sleep little Raieyana. Tell yourself you're strong. Think right now you're safe and sound, but soon those thoughts will be proven wrong. Life is what you make of it--however all lives are shaped by destiny. Some things have to happen, must happen, because it was kismet. Decided by fate long before your soul graced the Planet. Right now you regard me as the enemy. But your worst enemy can be the person closest to you. And Raieyana--more things than you realize are inevitable..._

"You have been fooled by your belief that you have free will. Maybe you choose the person you are with, but sometimes that is chosen for you. And sometimes if you are unwilling...

"So listen now, and here my prophecy. You think I am evil, but every moment I name you in my prayers. A child will be born unlike any other this world has known. Unaltered itself, but born of parents changed and shaped by the hands of science and its false god. That child...your child..."

************

Raieyana awoke. (My child? Aeris, or Ishmael?) She suddenly realized the presence of someone else in her bedroom. She squinted at the dark form as it moved closer and stopped at the side of her bed. "Who are you?" she whispered. With a light pressure, he held her in place as he climbed onto her bed and straddled her. "What the hell are you doing?" she hissed.

He placed his hand over her mouth and said softly, with an edge to his voice: "Be quiet, little Raieyana. This moment has been postponed for longer than it should have been."

She writhed in his grasp, but she was weaker than she was seven years ago. Then, she had barely defeated him, anyway. "Cloud. Let me go and leave now, and I won't say anything. I swear."

She saw him shake his head, even in the dark. "It's you who'll be quiet. A scream, or a loud noise would wake your children in the next room. And they would be the first ones to try and help Mommy. The less you struggle, the faster this will be over." He leaned closer. "Just pretend you're having a bad dream." A pause. "Or pretend you're with Reeve," he added, with a hint of sarcasm.

She got an arm free and slapped him across the face.

He ignored her and started pulling off her pajama pants. "I forgot that was a weak point with you," he said.

"Cloud, please, no," she pleaded. His blue eyes met hers and for a moment she saw the remorse in them. For a moment she thought he would come to his senses. She was wrong.

"It won't be too long if you cooperate," he said coldly.

With her last ounce of strength, she attempted to throw him off of her. He grabbed the bedpost and steadied himself. He grabbed her roughly and held her down, banging her head against the wall. Raieyana closed her eyes, prayed and let go. And then she started to sob. Cloud had finally succeeded.

************

Reeve had started slipping into sleep when he was awakened by a soft thud on the wall between his room and Raieyana's. Puzzled, he got up and put an ear to the wall. (I may be imagining this, but she's crying in there. And what was that bang?) Then he heard a piercing cry which was almost immediately muffled. Reeve ran out and stood outside Raieyana's door. He paused, and then threw it open.

************

Raieyana had tried to stay quiet. She didn't want to get hurt and she knew Cloud wouldn't be in her house much longer. But there was something involuntary deep inside her which had decided there was one more chance to prevent this. And the soft cry had escaped just before the deed was done. But Cloud muffled it and it had been so quiet she was sure no one had heard her. Besides, she had heard the soft moan from Cloud and knew she had tried too late. It was over. Mission accomplished. And he had enjoyed himself.

Still inside her, he taunted her. "This isn't so bad, now is it? Maybe next time, if you're more willing, there'll be some pleasure in it for you." His hands had been all over her and still they roamed freely, trying to get some response from Raieyana.

The door flew open. Somehow between the time Reeve started walking towards him and the time Reeve threw him off of Raieyana, Cloud managed to get his pants zipped back up and Raieyana covered by a blanket.

"What the hell were you doing?" asked Reeve. "If you come near Raieyana again, I swear to God, you motherfucking lunatic, I'll kill you! Got it Strife? You're dead. Leave her alone." He threw Cloud out the open doorway and shut and locked the door.

.

He gingerly sat down next to Raieyana. "You're okay, right? Did he give you another black eye? I heard the bang and came right over. Stopped him before he had a chance to do anything, thank God. Right, Raieyana?"

He looked at her. She was staring into space. He reached for her hand. She jerked away and started to cry again. "Ray?" Reeve had forgotten to use her proper name and reverted back to the old nickname. "Are you okay? What did he do to you?"

She took a shuddering breath, then exhaled. "He...well, what the hell did you think he did? What would he want to do? But it wasn't Cloud himself. We both know that..." she said, with a strange look in her eyes.

"God, Ray, I have no idea. Not with him. He's just nuts."

She looked him straight in the eyes. "Think hard. Cloud...he..." She shivered. "he...raped me."

He looked at her in shock. (Ray, I failed. I vowed to protect you and I failed miserably.)

She slowly leaned and rested her head on his chest. He placed his arms around her and held her; she didn't recoil from his touch this time. "I'm so sorry I didn't make it in time," he said.

"It's not your fault. More things than you realize are inevitable." She paused, and softly sighed. "I still love you," she whispered.

"You shouldn't, especially now. I've always failed to protect the ones I love. You were safer when we were estranged."

She shrugged. "I'd rather be happy than safe. I know what it's like to be happy. I've never known what it's like to be completely safe. I'd rather be here with you now than safe somewhere else."


	8. Part 3: Falling Into Place - Chapter 7

Chapter 7

.

When, Raieyana awoke the next morning, she was still in Reeve's arms. She closed her eyes as the horror of the previous night came back to her. She felt dirty; she felt like a piece of trash. But she almost could forget it all when she closed her eyes and realized that she was in his arms. She studied his features as he lay sleeping. She could feel his muscles through his shirt. (He's been working out. Must be afraid he's losing his youth.)

Reeve opened his eyes and found two perfect emerald ones shining back into them. "I...I would have gone back to my room," he said, "but you had fallen asleep, and I guess I nodded off myself."

She smiled. "That's okay." Raieyana got up and walked to the window.

Reeve noted that every movement was tainted with pain, and she looked more fragile now than she ever had before. (I swear to you Raieyana, I'll kill him. He'll taste his own blood before he rots in hell where he's supposed to be. Ray...)

"You can't, Reeve," she whispered.

He looked up, startled.

"I'm no mind reader. But I saw some sort of resolve in your eyes right then, and I'm going to tell you now, violence isn't going to solve anything. What's done is done."

.

There was a knock on the door, and then it opened. "Ray, wake up," said Lia gently. Then she noticed that not only was Raieyana awake, but she was engaged in a serious conversation. "Uh, sorry." Lia shut the door and they could hear her footsteps as she rushed off, embarrassed at her intrusion.

Reeve stood up. They spent a few moments looking at each other in silence.

"Thanks for being there for me last night. I really needed that," Raieyana said. Then she hugged him. Though she had intended the embrace to be brief, a sort of "good-bye for now" thing, she couldn't bear to break away.

"God, Ray," said Reeve, "I lied. I didn't care about waking you up last night. I mean, that was important, but holding you again was heaven. I've missed you. God knows I have."

Raieyana looked up into his eyes. All of the pain was gone, if only for a second.

He leaned down and softly kissed her. And tasted tears. Reeve didn't know whether they belonged to him or Raieyana. Because they both were crying.

************

To say that breakfast was strained would be an understatement. Many tempers had been lost the previous night. Vincent and Yuffie were still in the midst of an argument. Tifa was still upset from her revelation to Cloud the night before. And for obvious reasons, tensions between Raieyana, Reeve, and Cloud were so intense, so thick, it would have taken something stronger than the Masamune Blade, or even the Evenstar, to slice through. And a poor, confused Lia was in the center of it all. Making matters worse, no one was eating a thing. And she had slaved since three in the morning to prepare food for twenty people. Granted, the children wouldn't have eaten much anyway, but still...

.

Lia placed down the last plate of food, in front of Raieyana.

"Looks good," said Cloud in a half-whisper.

Raieyana choked back a sob, threw her napkin on the table and quickly exited the large dining room.

Reeve, who had just murdered Cloud in his mind, rose to follow her.

Raising her voice from quieter insults, Yuffie yelled, "See, Vincent? That's why you had nightmares. You have no idea how to treat a woman with the respect she needs. And no, you don't comfort me when I'm upset. Why can't you be more like Reeve?"

Vincent slammed his fist on the table with a bang. "If you want a man like Reeve, I'd be glad to leave you for seven years. My God, if you hadn't gotten pregnant, do you think for a second I would have stayed with you? Yuffie, you've always been so goddamn annoying. I've only stayed this long because I felt pity for your sorry ass."

Yuffie smiled with antagonism. "That's not what you said after you were done screwing me last night. I thought I had you satisfied. But I guess you can't satisfy an animal!"

Red XIII growled. "Don't bring my kind into your childish argument."

"Shut up, Red," said Cid, "you're just pissed off because you're the last of your kind. No midnight dancing for the giant pussy!"

Tifa was shocked. "You are so crude. I can't believe you could talk to another person like that. Everyone has feelings, you dumb drunk bastard, and you're always finding someone to crush to bring up your own paltry self-esteem."

.

Lia looked around in a daze. Everyone was screaming back and forth and back and forth. The children were whining, and the adults were even louder. Cloud was sobbing with his face in his hands. Legolas, Elsie, Barret, and Marlene were trying to calm the kids down. (I'm the one left to calm everyone else down? That's never going to happen.) Lia picked up a plate, considered for a moment, and hurled it against a wall. The shatter got everyone's attention. One look at Lia and everyone grew silent.

"We are here," she said, "to discuss Shinra and Soldier and what to do about them. We are not here to bring up old issues, argue with spouses, or talk about other people's sex lives. And I don't care why you're married to Yuffie, Vincent--or why Red XIII is offended by a statement regarding animals. I don't give a damn! I just want to try and figure out what's happening and keep my family well and safe."

There was silence. Lia had never raised her voice before in her life. She had shocked even herself. "I'm sorry. It just seems that in only one day everyone has lost track of why we're all here. And I guess I'm just worried about what could happen to Legolas or Danny or Ray or anybody. No one knows what's wrong."

.

"I'm sorry," said Yuffie, "I've been getting worked up lately over minor things when all I really care about is whether or not my kids will have problems with this. And you, Vincent..."

Vincent put his arm around his wife. There was one truce, at least.

Cloud stood up. "I shouldn't have come," he said.

"Wha'? You're the fuckin' leader, you damn jackass! Jus' because you haven't kept in touch with us at all doesn't change it, right?" Barret knew the he was no leader, and the only one that he had respect for was Cloud.

Cloud shook his head. "I've destroyed a delicate flower," he mumbled in a low voice.

"Cloud, you're talking crazy," said Tifa, "what the hell are you saying?"

"Aeris left me a legacy. And I squandered it. She gave us life. I've just wasted it." He started walking out. "Don't worry," Cloud said, "I might come back. But you'd all be in better luck if I didn't."

************

Raieyana sank onto her bed. Reeve sat down next to her. She shook her head. "There are some things that you just can't help me deal with. This is one of them."

"But I..." He paused. "...you have no idea about what I know about this sort of situation. Come with me." He took her hand and led her to his room. He rummaged around in his things until he found it. He handed the written pages to her.

"What is this?" she asked.

"Read it. It's the reason why I can't sleep at night." He kissed her on the forehead, and sat down in a chair across the room.

.

Raieyana read. _"...Sometimes he had spoken about ex-girlfriends like that. I had never thought much of it. But this was..."_

She finished, and laid the sheets aside. She smiled weakly. "Fine, you can deal. But you've never gone through what I have, and--wait, don't interrupt--you'll never be able to understand this part of it." She tapped her head. "What goes on inside here. Don't worry about that. And don't...blame yourself for my death. That was decided by destiny long before you or I or anyone on the planet today was in existence. I fulfilled the prophecy. And so did you."

Reeve shook his head. (She will never understand. Why I am to blame for everything, everything wrong in her life.) He felt a jolt in his pocket. He removed his pager. "God, Reno, what the hell is that important?" He gave an apologetic look to Raieyana. "I'll just be a sec. Call him and chew him up. For all he knows, I'm on vacation."

.

Reeve heard the phone on the other line ring once before Reno picked it up.

_"Reeve, it better be you..."_

"Jack, right here. What the hell do you mean, paging me? I'm taking time off, remember?"

_"It's important. I wouldn't interrupt you for something that wasn't major. I wouldn't do it for bankruptcy."_

"What is it then?"

_"It's just...weird, Reeve. Something's gonna happen. Something big. There isn't any solid hard-core evidence, but the Shinra are planning something. There's been a hush over Junon. Besides the normal commuting crowd, over a hundred people have left since you were gone. Those are only the scared ones. The rest are keeping the faith. But Shinra's going to do...Christ, I don't know what the fuck they could do. You gotta come back, Reeve. This isn't Midgar. There is no way to prevent assault. People will die if we don't nip this thing in the ass."_

.

Raieyana heard him. "Then I'm coming back," he said.

Panic came over her. She ran to her room and removed her satchel. She threw a shirt, a dress, and a pair of pants in there. Adding potions and what-not, she suddenly came upon, in her closet, her twin sabres. She examined them. (No nicks.) She checked the materia. (Enemy Skill, 2x-Cut, and...) She squinted at the red orb. (Some summony-type thing.)

Reeve walked into her room. She dropped the sabres and stood in front of her bag, hiding it from his view. He gave her a weird look. "What are you doing?"

She shrugged. "Nothing unusual, I guess."

"Ray...I have to go back to Junon."

She shrugged again. "Reeve...I have to go back to Junon."

.

"What the hell did you just say?"

She smiled. "What," she said, "I have to stay here, in the same place, for the rest of my life? I haven't left in seven years."

"The kids? What about the kids?"

Raieyana waved her hand. "I'm sure Lia wouldn't mind taking care of them."

"Why wouldn't she mind?"

She laughed. "She'd probably help shove me out the door. She's always saying I should do more. She says I would feel better if I traveled somewhere."

Reeve sat, deep in thought. "Are you sure you could handle...fighting and stuff...so soon after..." He blanked. (I'm just not going to say the word. I heard her say it once, and neither one of us is going to hear that word again. Rape.)

"I need to get away," she said, "for a little while, anyway. I'm still afraid to sleep in my own bed. Besides, you said you wanted to show me Alcor."

************

Cloud sat atop Mount Crist, looking down at the ocean. (In trying to solve every problem with violence, I've secured my own end in violence.) He looked at his sword, the Lowlellean, which had slain mutant wolves, and probably a thousand other things in the last seven years. He hurled the sword as far as he could. He saw it splash into the water. (So the Lord will help me. If I need that sword to live, I shall cease to live.) He looked at his hands, the hands that he had used to kill Sephiroth, beat Aeris, and rape Raieyana. (I've washed them so many times. So why do I still see these blood-stained hands? It's just too easy to blame it on Sephiroth, or Jenova. There must be a flaw, deep inside me, which allows my body to do these deeds. The philosophers call it natural depravity. The name is too pretty for the horror it signifies.)

He fell on his knees in anguish. "So save me God, because you made me this way. Not Hojo--you. You let it happen! You created him and me...in your image? I can't worship a god who lets angels burn. Tell me, is Aeris in hell? She shouldn't be. But any being who lets souls suffer--no, condemns them to suffer--is not a god, but a monster. Who would let his children rot in the sulfur fire in the darkness of hell. And maybe I am being punished for my actions. Maybe I am a monster." (But perhaps, I also was made in the image of the One who damns us all.)


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

.

"Laida." Heidegger smiled as the Head of Weapons and Machinery walked into Scarlet's and his joint office.

She smiled back and tossed her ash-blond hair. "So, I had our little worker at Alcor spread the word in Junon. About conspiracy...danger...and what-not. My plan wouldn't have worked with Reeve Jordan out of Junon. I had her start a little scare. Jack Reno's probably on the phone beggin' him to come back right now."

Scarlet leaned forward. "So, what is this...plan?"

"Oh, I don't know," said Laida coyly, "we need something big...something huge...that Alcor--and Reeve--can be blamed for. Now what could we do to Junon that would ruin them?"

"That's what we're asking you," said Heidegger dryly.

.

Laida rolled her eyes. "As you know, I've had agents buy us some property in Upper Junon. That's where it will start."

"It?" inquired Scarlet.

Laida grinned, her eyes excited. "Fire. Deliberate arson. We come in--at the appropriate time, of course--and save all of Junon from burning to the ground. We let Alcor burn. We will be heroes, and then we'll prove how our friends Mr. Jordan and Mr. Reno started the whole thing."

"How long until the 'Great Fire of Junon?'" asked Heidegger.

"A week, maybe two. I have to let Reeve start to feel secure. Who knows? Maybe he won't even survive the fire. That would be awfully good for us. It's easy to blame someone who can't defend himself. Reno's just a drunk, stoned idiot. He's nothing without Reeve."

************

"What are the rest of us supposed to do?" asked Yuffie, angrily. "I don't enjoy sitting on my ass, either."

"Look," said Reeve, "if there is anything up with Shinra, we would throw them off by all coming."

"You don't seriously think you an' Raieyana are gonna hold off the Shinra by you'selves, do'ya? Why can't we all come? You think we ain't up to it, dontcha?"

Reeve shook his head. "That's not it at all, Barret."

Everyone looked up in wonder as Cloud sauntered back in. "Barret," said Cloud, "he'll call for our help if there's a problem. This is just a precaution."

Reeve looked at Cloud with scrutiny. (Nice. You're defending me. Look, I can hold my own in an argument. But...what...what happened...to his sword?)

"Besides, Barret," said Tifa, "we can go and visit those sick ex-Soldiers and maybe get some idea of what's the problem."

"Will you be all right, Ray?" asked Lia.

Raieyana nodded. "I can take care of myself. And Reeve will be with me."

************

Reno was waiting in a helicopter right next to the ruins of Midgar, where Reeve had told him to meet them. He squinted at the two figures approaching him from the horizon. (It's Reeve...and somebody else...)

Reeve and Raieyana reached the helicopter. Reno raised an eyebrow. "You told me you were bringing someone who could help us."

Raieyana shook her head. "Last time we met, you insulted me then, too. I guess I should expect it from someone like you. After all, my father always said you were a tactless idiot."

His eyes widened. "That's right! You're Amine's kid, aren't you?" His eyes checked over her body with a pleased expression. "Although I daresay you've grown up. Come up into the Alcor helicopter." He lowered his hand.

Raieyana glanced at Reeve.

"Jack, she doesn't trust you," said Reeve.

She grabbed Reno's hand and he pulled her into the helicopter. Reeve climbed up, without aid.

.

"Reeve's a better pilot than I am, and there's only two seats," said Reno, with a grin, "so I guess the little Amine will have to sit on my lap."

She shook her head disgustedly. "I wouldn't want to get you hard or something," she said.

Reeve caught her eye and gave her an amused smile. "I guess her daddy told her a lot about you, Jack," he said with a laugh.

Raieyana plopped down on the floor.

"But, seriously, it's not safe for her to be sitting on the floor," Reno said.

She shrugged. "I think I'll take my chances. The floor doesn't have any ulterior motives, unless..." She shook her head and laughed. (Wow. That's been the first time I've laughed since Cloud...)

Reno and Reeve talked on the way back to Junon, but Raieyana was silent for the remainder of the trip.

************

Outside of his office, Reeve turned to Raieyana. "I've got to do some things. Jack will give you the grand tour, won't he?"

She made a face.

"Look," Reeve whispered, "he'll say a crude thing every once and a while, but he would never take advantage of a woman. He'd rather go rent one off the streets. He won't hurt you."

"Reeve," she whispered back, "I just don't like him. But I'll go. I won't be away for very long, though."

.

"So," said Reno, "what's your first name?"

"Raieyana."

"Raieyana. That's beautiful. I hope you didn't take what I said on the way over here personally. I wasn't very serious."

"The only thing that offended me," she said, "was when you said that I'd grown up. I've been grown-up for a long time."

Reno shrugged. "Maybe. But I remember going out drinking after hours with Reeve and sometimes Tseng, and he would talk about his beautiful little daughter. You know, I always thought Tseng Amine fell in love with Aeris Gainsborough by watching his daughter grow up."

She looked at him in disbelief. (How could he know who my mother was?)

He looked at her expression, and chuckled. "Raieyana, he told me she was your mom. And besides, you look an awful lot like her. Anyway, here's my office. Let's take a look."

.

Reno walked in the door and saw Lavana. He noted with disgust that she was wearing an even skimpier outfit than usual.

"So, is Reeve back?" she asked.

"Lavs, why don't you leave a good man the hell alone? He doesn't want your skanky ass."

Lavana noticed Raieyana. "Reno, who's the little lamb?" she asked.

"Do you remember Tseng Amine?" Reno asked.

She nodded.

"That's his daughter."

Lavana gave her a once-over. "She looks like him. Just, like, the posture and the attitude. She carries herself like him. But, tell me now, is Reeve back?"

"Why do you care?" asked Raieyana.

Lavana gave Raieyana a look of amusement. "So," she said, "the girl has a crush on Reeve, does she? She's a little young for him, I think." She started to walk out. "Oh, and honey," she whispered loudly, "put off having kids as long as possible. I can tell that when you do, your hips will get huge. Be happy with the little virgin hips you have now."

.

"Sorry about that," said Reno, "she's the company slut. But I guess every company has at least one."

Raieyana looked at him. "Tell me the truth. Have she and Reeve ever, well, y'know..."

"Raieyana, I have no idea. Do you have a thing for Reeve?"

"Look," she said, "everything that bitch said was way-off. 'Put off having kids' because my hips will get huge? That's a laugh. She should have seen how small they were before I had my kids!"

"You have kids?" asked Reno, totally surprised.

"Well, twins. I've only been pregnant once."

"Are you single?"

She had no idea how to answer that question. (I hope I'm not...) She blinked back the tears that burned her eyes. "I can't answer that," she said, "because I'm not sure. The only thing that I know is that I am in love with someone, and I think the feeling's mutual, but the situation has been getting more and more awkward. We get one issue settled, another pops up."

"So you're not into Reeve..."

.

Reeve walked in. "Why are you constantly trying to find out who people 'like,' Reno? That's none of your business."

"Come on, Reeve," said Reno, "you want to hear her answer as much as I do--maybe more. I know you want her."

Reeve and Raieyana looked at each other. "You know," she said, "the reason why Alcor isn't successful is the fact that the company is run by juvenile imbeciles."

"Look, Reno. It's more than 'wanting her' with Ray. We have two kids together."

Reno threw his hands up in the air. "How come I'm the last one to find out the important things?"

"Actually, he didn't know himself until a couple of days ago," said Raieyana.

"You two are confusing me! How old are they?" asked Reno.

"Well, Reno..." said Reeve "...Six and a half..."

.

"...but, if I had known you were gonna give Raieyana the third degree, I wouldn't have sent her with you. By the way, where's Lavana? I'm trying to avoid her."

Lavana stepped inside. "I thought I heard you call my name," she said, "by the way, your sister's friend or whatever--she's kind of pretty. For her type."

"Not friend, Lavs," said Reno, "l-o-v-e-r. That news makes you pretty happy, I'll bet."

"That's why I don't tell you things, Reno," muttered Reeve.

"Lover," said Lavana, "your lover? Have you told her...about us? What kind of thing we have?"

"Had. A long time ago. Nothing since."

"That's right," she said, "you've had nothing. For a long time. My theory still stands."

"The only thing it takes to resist you, Lavana," Reeve said, "is taste."

"To each his own. Here's the new figures on the people who have left Junon. Don't say I don't do anything around here."

"I'd say you do everyone," said Reno.

"Except you," she said, "I drew the line at creatures without spines. I am discriminating in my choice of men..." Lavana turned on her heel and walked out of Reno's office.

"Fire her, Reeve," said Reno.

Reeve shook his head. "If I do that, she'll go to Shinra. I can handle her. I just shouldn't have hired her in the first place."

************

"God, am I tired," said Reeve, tearing off his tie and throwing it over the couch.

Raieyana looked around Reeve's small apartment. (This place is tiny. I wonder if he even has a...spare bedroom...) "I can't believe the entire city is so quiet. It's only ten o'clock. It scares me," said Raieyana, "while I was growing up here, sometimes we would run around until long after this time, clubbing."

"Clubbing?" Reeve gave her a disgusted look.

She rolled her eyes. "Like when we were fourteen and here to visit Aula. We would visit the teen clubs. They're all closed now. One was a bar last time I was here. Another one was that deli." She smiled. "That was an interesting conversation we had in Reno's office."

"I am so sorry about Lavana," said Reeve, "she's a bitch and I should have kept her away from you."

"Reeve? Did anything ever happen between you and Lavana?" Raieyana asked.

Reeve sighed. "When I was like eighteen, in business school. She was my first. And she won't let me forget it. To top it off, I think she's seduced most of the men in the company because she thinks it makes me jealous. It just makes me ill. I'm not ashamed about what we did, though. I was young, and it was a long time ago. Everyone has a past. I made some mistakes. A lot of mistakes."

.

Raieyana laid down on the couch. "Just get me a blanket," she said, "and I'll be fine right here."

"No," said Reeve, "I'll sleep on the couch. You can have the bed."

"Why? I won't get a good night's sleep in strange place, anyway. I don't have to spoil yours. Go sleep in your own bed."

"Ray..."

"If you make me get up, I'll refuse to sleep. Go to sleep. It's your place, Reeve. I'm imposing on you."

He shook his head. He draped a blanket over her and kissed her lightly. "Feel free to come at any time and kick me off the bed. So when you come to your senses..."

"If you don't go now, I'll throw a pillow at you," she threatened.

"Then I'll leave. I remember how hard you throw pillows."


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

.

Raieyana awoke from a deep, dreamless slumber. She glanced around the darkened room, then closed her eyes. She smiled as she heard the familiar sounds of Junon at midnight, the sounds she hadn't heard in over seven years. (There's just something about the place where you grew up. Coming back is always satisfying, no matter what the circumstances. No, that's wrong. This time it is tough. I don't know if it's because of what happened in Undor-Hai, or the fact that Reeve is so close...)

She suddenly had a desire to go to him. (Even after...the horror...I still slept like a child in his arms.) She got up and walked to his door.

.

Silently, Raieyana crept in. His face was illuminated by a square of moonlight coming in through the window. The peace was suddenly interrupted by the wail of a police siren as it passed.

Reeve stirred. He opened his eyes. "I thought I saw you standing there," he whispered, "did you change your mind about the bed?"

She sat lightly on the edge of the bed. "Reeve? When I read what you wrote...about Anna, it said that you loved me. Do you still love me?"

Reeve closed his eyes for a moment. (Of course. Ray, I wrote that the first night in Undor-Hai. I haven't had a change of heart in the last couple of days. I couldn't.) "Ray, I never stopped."

"Then how did it get like this? Why am I afraid to look at you? All I had hoped for over the years was being here with you...yet, I can hardly bear to talk to you. I don't want to go home alone. Someday I'm going to wake up and know that I don't care if I make it anymore. If it weren't for the kids, maybe even now..."

"Shhh..." Reeve held her close. "Don't talk like that. Anything that's gone wrong for you, it's my fault."

"Why do you say that?" Raieyana asked.

"Just name it. Tseng's death. Cait Sith gave him the key to the Temple of the Ancients. He wouldn't be dead if he hadn't gone there. Your death. Hey, I did that myself. Ishmael's death."

She cut in. "You had absolutely nothing to do with that. Why do you..."

"If he," Reeve said, "hadn't have seen us kissing, he would have never given in to the mind control. He wouldn't have wanted to die. Don't you see, I just make a mess out of everything I touch, yet...yet you... God, Ray, you're beautiful. And I will never understand how you can possibly love a man like me."

"Look," said Raieyana, "I can't do anything about your self-doubt. Your guilt about things you had no control over. But I know that the hardest thing in the world is being in love with someone and not knowing what they're doing, how they are, whether they've found somebody. I'd always wondered if...you'd found someone who wasn't still just a child. I'm still younger than you were when I first met you."

"Raieyana, the things your eyes have seen... You have experienced so much...you are wiser than I'll ever be. I'd put all my faith in any decision you made. You are no child."

"I suppose you're right," she said, "children are innocent. And I lost my innocence a long time ago."

.

Reeve leaned down and stopped her words with a kiss. Passionate, trying to make up for lost time, they clutched each other as they went deeper and deeper.

Raieyana was enraptured. This was the man she loved; this was everything she had ever wanted. And yet, the gnawing terror growing at the back of her mind rose and devoured any other emotions. She felt his hands rush up the small of her back until they came to rest...the same place that Cloud's hands had rested. Her barely suppressed cry turned into an overly emphatic "stop, please." Even though in the heat of the moment up until that point, Reeve leaned back to give her more room.

"What is it, Ray?" He scrutinized her face, wondering what in particular she wanted him to say. "There hasn't been anyone since you...no one I've wanted since you," he assured her.

"Oh," she said quickly, "that's not it. I mean, I don't really care about that." She gave him a weak smile. "As for me, there hasn't been anyone ever but you. Except..." Her face contorted as a sharp pain went through her. "But that wasn't my fault," she whispered, "not my choice."

Reeve's eyes widened. He could have slapped himself. (Only a couple of days ago...and I wanted to? What am I, inhuman?) "I am so sorry, Ray. I can't believe I even considered for a moment... After you... Hell, Ray, I'll be celibate for the rest of my life, if that's what you need."

She shook her head. "No. I even wanted to... I've been lonely for so long... I was fine, but I couldn't suppress my reactions. Maybe it is too soon. All I want to do is make you happy. I will, I promise, as soon as I can."

"No," he said, "take all the time that you need. Get better. That's all I care about." And as he said the words, Reeve wasn't sure if he meant her physical health or her mental health. (Raieyana is so weak. And then Cloud... I'll kill the bastard, make him pay...like I made Austin pay. No matter what Ray thinks, there was something that was just Cloud that made him do it. Jenova or Mako alone are not to blame for the inner disfunctions in his personality; no, Jenova and Mako just enabled him to act on them.)

"Reeve?"

His attention was immediately back to Raieyana.

"Could I...could I...sleep here tonight?"

"Oh sure," he said, getting up, "remember? I said you could have the bed."

"No. That's not what I meant. I meant with you."

.

Reeve was reminded of how frail she was as he took her light frame back into his arms. With a soft sigh she nestled her cheek against his chest and was soon asleep. (Raieyana. My Ray. You shouldn't be here if the Shinra really are going to attempt something catastrophic. How many more blows can you take? But I can't leave Junon. And it might hurt you worse if I left you than if you stayed. But I'll protect you. Until the last breath of life has been taken from me. Because I was allowed to be here like this. With you. When these hands, my hands, have destroyed so much, they are still permitted to touch an angel. And brush away her tears. The only heaven that exists is the one I hold in my hands this very moment.)

************

Raieyana woke up in a very happy mood. She couldn't refrain from humming lightly the instant she opened her eyes.

Reeve smiled. "Well, good morning sunshine," he said.

She shrugged and looked out the window. "It's a beautiful morning," she said, "and I'm just...happy. I haven't felt this good since, since..." She paused. "...since Ish died."

"When I arrived in Junon, the first thing I did was find Ishmael, Blane, and Denmae's families and tell them the bad news. I was rather vague about the circumstances when I talked to Blane and Denmae's parents. But..." He paused and turned to Raieyana. "Everything I told Ishmael's family was fabricated. I told them he died saving you. I've always been jealous of him, even after he passed on, but hell, I could never say anything ignoble about Ishmael Deline. The only thing he ever wanted...I got. I owed him that story. The end...wasn't his fault. I felt bad lying. But the truth would have been worse."

"You didn't lie," said Raieyana, "he did save me. He saved me, but he couldn't save himself. Everything...it had all eaten away at his mind. No one can withstand that forever." (Not even I... But maybe I will outlive it. Or die before my time to fall.)

.

"Cloud," she said softly, "he couldn't withstand it forever, either."

"That's different. He wasn't being forced to do something he didn't want to do. I know he wanted you; he just can't hold on to his self-control."

"But Cloud, even though they were his desires, wouldn't have consciously decided to act upon those desires. Maybe there is something in the Jenova. After all, Austin... And remember those Soldiers in the Shinra building that you ended up...decimating? They had Jenova, and the wolves in the crater, too."

He shook his head. "But there's you. You have Jenova, and you're not violent."

"Until I get mad," she said, "until I get mad."


	11. Part 4: Igniting an Inferno - Chapter 1...

Chapter 10

.

They had gone to Mideel to find the Soldiers who were having problems, in the chance that the symptoms would give a glimpse into the illness. No such luck.

"God...and...power...why...is...it...over...this...don't...know...is...no...freedom...while... alive..." Ruther mumbled in his delirium.

Three other ex-Soldiers were also writhing and mumbling. This is what the rebuilt health clinic had become. A sanctuary for sick Soldiers.

Red XIII walked over to Yuffie, Vincent, Tifa, and Barret. "I've checked all of their medical records. It seems that they have nothing in common...except this. There are also many different symptoms between the four of them. They have little in common. However, it all seems to be an affliction due to the Jenova...and perhaps some minor Mako poisoning as well. Hojo played with fire, and these men have gotten burned. We'll need to find some of Hojo's original experiment files to even hope to be able to determine the cause and/or the cure. And if we don't do it quickly...there will be few of us in shape to do research. Vincent, Cloud, Legolas, myself, Raieyana...all of us, and even more...we have been exposed to Jenova. We may be the next to fall."

.

Tifa hit Red XIII with a barrage of questions. "But what decides? Why is it that you are standing here, fully competent, while they are out of their minds and sick? How much longer do you have before your turn? Do you even have an idea?"

"Tifa," said Vincent gently, "maybe our downfall is not going to happen with our bodies. Red mentions Cloud. How do we know that his...instabilities do not arise from the Jenova? Perhaps this was Sephiroth's downfall. From what I have heard, it seems he was born with a human mind, with fragilities and even some compassion. Maybe the monster killed the man. I go so far as to suggest Sephiroth as a human being died years before Cloud ran him through with his sword in the Northern Crater. And Ishmael...I sense Raieyana never told us the whole truth about his death. Or Blane or Denmae's, for that matter. I had a dream...it said that only those of strong body, will, and mind will pass through the fire... I don't know exactly what that means, but..."

"These are obviously an example of the weak-bodied," said Yuffie, "and Cloud...maybe has a weak will...open to suggestion. But I don't know where we could find proof for the weak mind part."

"Doesn't matter," said Barret, "Cloud's dumb ass ran off. He was still mumbling about the blossom...and some legacy...and how he's failed Aeris and everyone who'd given some great gift... I tried to get 'im to explain that pile of horseshit, but he wandered off blankly. Weak will, ha! What he needs is a great big can of 'Wake Up, You Moron! We Need You Again, You Bastard!' And Vince, you and Legolas are looking fine...nothing to worry about."

"What about Raieyana?" asked Yuffie. Powerless to answer her, the rest of them fidgeted in the uncomfortable silence.

************

A week had come and gone without any sign of death, destruction, or Shinra in Junon. Ignoring her protests, Reeve dropped Raieyana off at Reno's place. "I have to work. He took the day off and is going to show you the sights. Maybe he'll take you to the zoo."

"Reeve," she said, "that would only excite me if I was still a kid. I thought I wasn't a child. Why can't I just sit around your office?"

Reno opened his door and smiled. "Hey, Ray. Ready for a fun-filled day jam-packed with..."

"Fun, I bet," said Raieyana with mock excitement, "whoopee."

He turned to Reeve. "I can't believe nothing has happened. No one has even been mugged since you can back. Oh, and Lavs is takin' a week off."

"A week! My God, am I going to have to work my ass off today. I'm so glad I came back early, Jack. So glad. But," Reeve said, turning to Raieyana, "if all goes well, I'll pick you up for dinner at five. Bye. Love you."

Reno found their good-bye kiss a little lengthy for his taste. "C'mon kids, you're gonna see each other again in about...eight hours. So save some for tonight, eh?" Reeve shook his head and went out the door.

Raieyana sat gingerly on Reno's filthy couch. "Well, I'm waiting," she said, "entertain me."

"What do you want to do?" he asked.

Raieyana was suddenly overcome by a wave of nausea. "Where's the bathroom?" she asked.

"Down the hall...second door on the right..." By the time he finished, she had the bathroom door shut behind her. (I knew she didn't like me. I had no idea I had that kind of effect on her.)

.

After being safely sick in the bathroom, Raieyana rinsed her face and checked herself in the mirror. (That's funny. I don't think I've been sick like that since, since...) She tried to think back to the last time she had even felt the slightest bit sick to her stomach. (Oh God, no. Not that.) Her memory flashed back in a horror. (It can't be that. It's not that. It's too soon after to possibly be...) Her own words came back to her, however.

"_Accelerated growth...caused by Mako and Jenova...I have both of them in me by the metric ton..."_

(And so does Cloud. My dream.)

_"A child will be born...more things than you realize are inevitable."_

(Stop thinking crazy things. There's no way to know for sure. But if I am carrying a child...the danger is great. Not to my own health, but maybe even the health of the Planet itself.) She emerged from the bathroom.

"Are you okay?" asked Reno.

"Yeah," said Raieyana, "and I even have an idea of what to do. Could you take me to the drugstore?"

He gave her a strange look. "I hope there's nothing wrong with you."

.

When they arrived at the drugstore, Raieyana tried to convince Reno to wait for her outside.

"No," he said, "too dangerous. If you're recognized from seven years ago...or as a friend of Reeve's...hey, shit happens. I won't be embarrassed by anything you have to buy. Hell, I'll even pay for it." He was surprised, however, when she bypassed the feminine products aisle and went towards the back of the store. He looked at the shelves around him. (Condoms? No wonder she didn't want me following her.)

Raieyana followed his stare and blushed when she saw what his attention was focused on. (He thinks I...) She left him gawking at the contraceptives and quickly chose one of the e.p.t.'s from the shelf above them. She quickly headed to pay for it.

Reno didn't catch up with her until she was going through the exit. "Hey, don't be embarrassed. It's not like I've never had to buy condoms before. What kind did you get, huh? Are they a nice color?" He grabbed her bag from her and looked into it. "It didn't take you and Reeve very long to get back into the swing of things, did it?"

"Just...just...you don't what you're talking about. You don't understand." Raieyana snatched the bag back and swiftly started to walk away.

"Wait," Reno said, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you cry."

She wiped a tear from her eye. "I'm not crying," she said stubbornly, "and you're not sorry. You don't give a damn about anyone. You insult me, you insult Reeve, and even though she deserves it, you insult Lavana. And he...Reeve left me with...you, of all people! And after what happened."

.

They had reached Reno's place. He unlocked the door and they walked in. "Look, Raieyana," he said, "I don't want to know what that thing tells you. Whatever it is, it's your business and Reeve's. When I grabbed the bag, I wasn't expecting to find anything like that in there."

Silently, she went to take the pregnancy test. But Raieyana knew truly in her heart what the result would be. She was pregnant with Cloud Strife's child. A child that, more likely than not, would truly be a monster. Why had the voice in her dream warned her? And how many more of the things she has seen while dreaming would become reality?

************

All emotion had left her. She was an empty vessel, made only for the purposes of a sadistic god. A thousand trials were not enough for this ungrateful deity. (How much humility do I have to show to this terrible being? If there was an omnipotent god, I would not need to have gone through any of this torture. Create an apocalyptic being from dust. Why did you need me?)

Raieyana flung the pregnancy test across the bathroom which she had locked herself in twenty minutes ago. (Two lines if you're pregnant; one line if you're not. There should be another classification: three lines if you're carrying the child of a psycho-lunatic, and you're the daughter of another psycho-lunatic, and your sister turned into a psycho-lunatic.) She heard a light knock on the door.

"Raieyana, how're ya doin' in there? You okay?"

She opened the door and stared Reno in the face. "Just peachy. Call Reeve. I want to talk to Reeve."

"I can't," said Reno, "he'll bitch me out. 'Sides, you should tell him the news in person. Can't tell your lover that you're pregnant over the phone."

"Please. I have to talk to someone who knows about this...whole situation."

Reno scratched his head. "Whole situation? Tell me, I won't say anything stupid, I promise. It'll make you feel better."

.

They were interrupted by a harsh rapping at the door. Reno looked through the peephole. "Hey, you. Come on in. It's funny, last time I saw you I wanted to beat your ass and..."

Raieyana paled as Cloud Strife walked into the room and stood before her. "So what's new?" he asked.

She looked at him. "I think you know."

"Raieyana, sometimes I lose self-control and blank out. The only thing I remember for sure about that night was...the last words I said to you...and Reeve throwing me out the room."

"That's easy for you to say, I have to live with it."

He cut her off. "I have to live with myself, and that's a hundred times worse. Now tell me, Raieyana, for the love of God, what the hell did I do that was so fucking awful?"

"Think," she said, "think about the worst crime ever committed...what you did was worse."

"It was just one time...you never have to do it again, forget about it."

She shook her head. "One time? One time? Every time I look at your baby I'm going to see that one time. And every flutter I feel until then will remind me of your cold touch. And every time I hear that child's voice I'm going to remember your voice as it taunted me. One time. I'd rather you'd have killed me."

"It's not like I have no remorse. But I cannot change what happened. I...I didn't want it to happen. But it...it's always there...and... My child? It's a little too soon to know about that, isn't it?"

"Somehow I think that's what that night was all about. Not pent-up feelings of any kind. Whatever caused it to happen received the pleasure of seeing me humiliated and will watch me suffer for the rest of my life. Why did you come here? To rub it in? If Reeve finds out you came, you won't see another sunrise. And he will know, when I see him tonight. You better leave while you still enjoy the exquisite ecstasy of breathing."

"If Reeve attacks me," Cloud said, "he'll have it on his conscience. I threw my sword into the sea. I will not perform any more violence. I'm sorry I didn't see the error in my ways in time to save you from...this eternal pain. I'm sorry I broke from the force of this...rage again. But, just remember...I saved the world from Sephiroth."

"Who'll save the world from you, Cloud? Who'll save the world from you?" Raieyana was all too glad to see him go. Too glad.

.

"Should I ask what all that was about? Or would I draw the wrong conclusions?"

Raieyana looked at Reno, and shrugged.

"Well," he continued, "correct me when I'm wrong. You're pregnant, Cloud is...the father, and from the sound of things...you didn't have much choice in the matter."

"He raped me in my own bed," she said matter-of-factly.

"If it were me," he said, "I would have killed him the instant he stepped through that door. The instant."

"You're not me. I've seen enough people die in my time. I couldn't bear to cause another death." She checked the clock. 4:30 P.M. (Reeve will be coming soon. A day has never been so long.)

Reno's cell phone rang, almost as an answer to her thoughts. "Hello. Yes, this is Jack. What? God, that sucks ass. Are you sure? She won't want to hear that. It's gonna make her cry. This hasn't been the best day. Fine. Yeah, I'll see you whenever. Bye." He looked at Raieyana. "That was Reeve. He's not getting off tonight. He wants you to spend the night here, for safety's sake. And with Strife loose in Junon, I agree with him you'll be safer here."

.

"I'm so tired," she said, "I just want to sleep now. Even though it is early. Sleep until I wake up and realize that this nightmare of a day is finally over."

Reno led her to his spare bedroom. It was decorated with lace curtains and a pretty velour bedspread. She gave him a questioning look. "My mom visits once a year. She sleeps here. No biggie."

Raieyana walked over to the window. "Boy, the sunset looks funny. Glowing...almost flaming. Strange. Well... 'Night, Jack Reno."

Reno walked out to the living room and turned on the television. (Poor kid. She has gotten the short end of the stick more than once. But she hardly shows it. Except for that one time she cried, she has kept an absolute cool. She was doing the "Tseng" thing. He never showed his feelings, either. He handled Aeris Gainsborough in a completely professional manner, even though he was in love with her. And his daughter is so beautiful. If she were with anyone else but Reeve...)

************

Lavana entered the lobby of the Shinra building, and went right up to the counter. "I'm here to see Laida Quinn," she said.

The Soldier on duty checked his lists. "What's your name?"

She straightened her shoulders. "Lavana Earlham."

He checked off her name. "Go right up. Ms. Quinn's been waiting for you."

She sauntered over to the elevator.

.

Lavana got off at the thirty-second floor.

"Lavana, so you did get out of Junon." Laida motioned towards a chair. "Have a seat. My agents in Junon were supposed to set the fire at about...five o'clock. From my monitors, I can see they were successful. And the winds are blowing straight towards the Alcor building. We've got some damn good luck."

Lavana shrugged. "I don't care; I just want to get paid. And I hope you haven't forgotten about my bonus."

Laida smiled. "Don't worry. You'll have full access to Reeve when we have him in custody. We'll even allow you to make him an offer he can't refuse."

"All I want," said Lavana, "is full control over him for a moment, at least. After I have my time, you can do whatever the hell you want with him. He's just another conquest to me."

"What about your other pursuit?" asked Laida.

Lavana laughed. "That egg is almost cracked."


	12. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

.

When Raieyana woke up, the sky was still dusky. She would have rolled right over and went back to sleep, but she was distracted by an orange glow coming in through the window. She peered through the curtains. (That's not the sun...something's on fire! And this looks huge.) She ran into the living room.

Reno was watching a porno, with a bored expression on his face. He hurriedly turned off his VCR. "What do you want, Raieyana?" he asked.

"There's a really huge fire outside," she said. She grabbed the remote control and turned the television to the local broadcast station.

.

_"Channel Six here, live from the scene. Although we don't know the cause of the fire, it has been spreading through the main streets of Lower Junon and has started on the bottom of the Alcor building. So far, we do not know if anyone has been injured by the fire, but if anyone is inside the Alcor building, it's going to get hotter than hell inside there..."_

.

Reno was on the phone instantly. "Reeve, you jackass, answer the damn phone." He looked at Raieyana. "There's no answer," he said.

She opened the door. "Then we're going to the Alcor building."

.

Reno was not in bad shape, but he was having trouble keeping up with Raieyana as she hurried down the streets of Junon. They didn't see the full brunt of the fire until they passed through the tunnel connecting Upper and Lower Junon.

She shook her head. "Shinra must be in some way responsible. This may cause me to lose my faith in humanity."

"I already did," said Reno, "a long time ago. My motto: live only for yourself."

"And then you die by yourself. I'd like to think that some people would care if I died."

He looked at her. "I would. For every loner like me, there needs to be five of you to keep this world together."

"Nonsense," she said, "you're just imagining five of me in bed with you."

"I had an image, but really, I'd be satisfied with one of you...really."

Raieyana chuckled at his frankness. "Well, suddenly I feel less threatened," she muttered sarcastically.

.

Reno looked at her. She was wearing a T-shirt and a pair of sweat pants; she had been sleeping in them. The shirt fit her kind of tightly. He could tell she wasn't wearing a bra. And he knew that there could be some major repercussions if her didn't keep his eyes off her. After all, he wasn't made of stone. (I wonder what she sees in Reeve...he's not bad looking or a bad guy or anything...but she could probably have any man she wanted on this whole planet. And walk all over him if she wanted to. Damn it, Reeve has no idea how lucky he is. I wouldn't have left her with another guy for an entire day...and then that night...even if it was my best friend...even if I thought she couldn't stand him.)

Raieyana, however, was completely and totally oblivious, even to the men she had passed on the street who turned around to give her a second look.

"Raieyana," he said, "over the past couple of days I've had a temptation to kiss you. You're Reeve's, I know. But that doesn't mean you don't attract me."

.

Raieyana caught her breath in surprise. Sure, this man was grungy, but she had to admit to herself that she had been feeling some slight attraction to this former colleague of Tseng's. He was still a womanizer, but there was a fire that burned in him more brightly than in most people she had ever known. And even though she was fully aware of the consequences, she let her lips meet his. She allowed herself this for one fleeting moment. One electrifying moment.

She broke away, confused. "J...J...Jack. Look, maybe we...we coulda been. Under different circumstances, maybe, you know. But...I love Reeve and we have to find him."

"If that's what you want...then..." Reno turned to go on.

.

"Hold on, there. You're going the wrong way. You're heading towards the fire."

Reno looked at the annoying policeman. "I know that, dipshit. We have to find someone."

"Well, I can't let you do that. Now just come with me, and you can go stay someplace safe."

"Look," Reno said, "go pour water on the fire or something. I have some business."

"I'll have to arrest you if you don't cooperate..."

Raieyana drew her sabres. She had grabbed them before leaving Reno's place. "Maybe you should go pretend you didn't see anything here," she suggested in a soft voice.

"Little lady," said the cop, "don't try to threaten me."

"I'm not trying to threaten you. I am threatening you. And if you don't want me to prove how many pints of blood are contained in the human body by demonstration, it would probably be a good idea to get your ass in gear."

His eyes widening in fear, the policeman scurried off.

"I love Junon's cowardly police force," said Raieyana with a sigh, "home sweet home."

.

"Holy shit," said Reno. The Alcor building was engulfed in flames.

"How do we get up there?" asked Raieyana.

He looked around. (Service tower...but that would only get to the twentieth floor. Wait, there's some wires up there that go to the top. If they're phone lines we can use them. If they're power lines...) "Raieyana," he said, "look up there." He pointed. "Are those wires phone or electric lines?"

She squinted. "Phone lines."

"How'd you know that?" he asked, surprised.

She shrugged. "They're connected to that 'Junon Bell' telephone pole."

He grabbed the wire and started pulling himself up it. "Can you climb it?" he asked.

Raieyana looked at it. She nodded.

"Well, then," he said, "here we go."

.

They had climbed steadily upwards. Reno estimated they were around the height of the nineteenth floor. Suddenly, his cell phone rang. "Who is it?"

_"Reno. My God, there's a fire."_

"Reeve, I know. Where are you?"

_"Trying to find the stairs, but it's dark and the sprinkler system is on up here, and Yorlain has gotten us lost. Wait...Yorlain's found the stairs. We're heading up to the helicopter launch pad on the roof...but it'll take us a while. Where are you?"_

"As we speak, Raieyana and I are climbing up to meet you."

_"No shit. I think Shinra did this. I've been on my other cell phone, calling all the police. There's been emergency evacuations. They've been fighting the fire...with a lot of effort...but the winds been blowing and somebody cut off the hydrants in our block. Whoever's behind this really wanted to get us...bad. Either that, or we've got damn bad luck here. But the rest of the city is looking like it won't get hit too bad. And, if anyone dies it's gonna be Yorlain and I because we were on the phone so long trying to save everyone else."_

"Just hurry up and get to the roof. We'll meet you there."

.

Raieyana had been waiting patiently while Reno talked to Reeve. But just as he hung up, she slipped. "Reno!" she screamed as one hand slipped off completely.

Not wasting a moment, he grabbed her wrist and half-pulled her up to him. "I thought you said you could handle this," he said.

"I didn't know I'd be stopped to a standstill while you blabbed on the phone. I have plenty of strength, but my endurance ran out."

"Well," he said, "we can't go back down. The place where we first climbed up is probably an inferno. You'll just have to trust me. Here. Put your arms around my neck." He wrapped an arm around her waist and held her tightly against him. Using a combination of his feet and his other hand, Reno slowly climbed up to the top. They finally reached the roof of the Alcor building, a mere forty stories high.

Even with both feet firmly on the roof, Raieyana still hadn't let go of Reno. "You saved my life," she said.

He tried not to pay attention to the sensation of her body against his. "It was...nothing, really."

"Thanks," she whispered.

.

"Ray." Reeve ran over to them. "Ray, you allright?"

Embarrassed, Raieyana broke away from her embrace with Reno. She nodded, trying to hide the guilt she felt at being seen with Reno by Reeve.

Reeve hugged Raieyana. He looked at Reno. "We've got two helicopters. I'm taking Yorlain; he can't pilot a helicopter and I know you two don't get along."

"The guy's an idiot," Reno muttered.

Ignoring him, Reeve continued. "Ray, you don't mind another hour or so with Reno, do you?"

(Yes!) Her inner voice screamed. (I don't want to find out what he's really like. I'm afraid of myself. I don't want to spend another moment with him!) "I'll survive," she whispered.

************

Bored with the images of flames on the screens, Lavana got up. "I want to see if I can make any progress," she said to Laida.

Laida laughed. "Good luck."

Lavana walked out of Laida's office and took the elevator to the forty-fifth floor. Pausing in front of Scarlet's office, she unbuttoned her shirt another couple of buttons and tousled her hair. She slipped in the door with hardly a sound.

"Look," said Scarlet, "I specifically said I didn't want to be disturbed. Now go..." Scarlet stopped in mid-sentence when she saw it was Lavana. "Oh...I didn't know it was you...but I kind of want to be alone."

"Fine," said Lavana. She went and locked the door. "Now we're alone." She walked closer to Scarlet.

.

With her breath coming more quickly, Scarlet tried as hard as she could to keep her eyes off of Lavana. (A spy for us at Alcor...nothing more.)

Lavana stared at Scarlet.

"What... what is it?" Scarlet asked.

"Oh, you just have a piece of hair in your eyes. Just right...here." She reached over and brushed it from Scarlet's face. "I'm ashamed to admit it; but I'm attracted to you, Scarlet."

"You...you are?"

Lavana leaned down and kissed Scarlet passionately, and Scarlet took the bait.

.

About an hour later, Lavana returned to Laida's office. "I have Scarlet where we want her," she said.

"You really have no inhibitions, do you?" asked Laida in astonishment.

Lavana shrugged. "Scarlet was a better lover than most men. And she enjoyed it. I could tell from the beginning she wanted me. She started panting the moment I walked in the door."

Laida smiled. "Well, sis, I think we'll probably be running Shinra in no time."

"And how is Heidegger comin' along?"

Laida made a face. "I finally found a guy that was willing to be paid for providing... services to Heidegger. And to think, in the beginning, we thought they were sleeping with each other! But now they're distracted...so we can put our plan into play."

************

Cloud didn't understand the reason why he had went to Junon. He didn't understand how he could have said those things to Raieyana. (It...it...made me do it. I ought to go find a sword just so I can plunge it into my chest and end the misery I've caused everyone. But I just can't help but hope that I am here for some reason...to do good.) He remembered Tifa's words. And there was nothing else in the world he wanted more than to be able to love Tifa. Because she deserved it.

(But she deserves someone better than me...and so would Aeris, if she were alive.

"_Aeris...poor girl. Well, she served her purpose. In time you will realize that everything has its purpose. Your purpose...is to serve me."_

No! I've already done too much. I cannot go on. You will not always control me.

"_God made good and God made evil. Aeris was the good before, and her enemy--the evil--was Sephiroth. Raieyana is good. You are her evil. Nothing remains unchecked. Not even the righteous things."_

Why can't the righteous be allowed to let live?

"_Let live? Hardly. The righteous are burned along with the evil, because nothing is fair. Bad things happen to the righteous, the meek, the pure, the deserving; while the evil, the braggarts, the hypocrites, the corrupt, reap the rewards and pleasures of this earthly plane."_

No, that's not the way it happens. Good triumphs, and finally the wretched get theirs. Angels may burn, but they will know peace.

"_But you won't...puppet."_

I am not a puppet!

"_If you aren't a puppet, then everything that you have done was out of your own free will. If there is a heaven, you will never see it; if there is a Promised Land, you will never know it. If there is an afterlife, there is still no way you and Aeris will ever be reunited. Because all of this was...of your own free will."_

Never. And you can't control what will happen. You do not decide what I do.

"_Beware your destiny. You will lead the reunion. And with your son at your right hand, you will open the gates of hell. It was arranged long before you existed. And you cover your ears, and cower, but this is the future. Maybe you would be more open to the idea if I revealed to you that Raieyana will be at your left hand...ready and willing...at your disposal..."_

Don't tempt me. I am truly ashamed of what I did. I swear to you, I will never follow your plan...willingly. And though I may walk through your valley, surrounded by the shadows and shades of the blackest night and the most horrific turmoil...I will fear no evil. You have no power over me.

"_The only thing you have to fear is yourself. You are the evil and the evil is in you, and you cannot change that. The only way you'll ever be truly happy is if you accept it and understand: The evil is there, everpresent. The evil lives...it lives in you."_)


	13. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

.

It was nearly a war in the sky. As soon as they had left the roof of the Alcor building, the two helicopters had been attacked by a barrage of Shinra aircraft. And the helicopters weren't armed very well.

"You're crazy, Reno."

He looked at Raieyana. "We have to do something," he said.

"I seriously don't think hanging out the window with a machine gun is going to do us any good. You'll just end up being killed."

"Well, honey, you just take over the controls like a good girl and keep us in the air."

She glared at him. "I ought to crash right here and now just to spite you. But I really don't want to die."

Reno fired out the open door at the Gelnika in front of them. (One propeller gone. I need to take out the other one, and then it'll go down for sure.) He took out the Gelnika, but was hit in the arm by a stray bullet. "Shit." He sat down on the floor of the copter and held his hand over the swiftly bleeding wound.

.

Raieyana looked at him. "You're going to bleed to death."

"So, what? I got the bastards out of the sky, didn't I?"

She suddenly remembered that she had materia stuck in her sabres. She took them out and glanced at them. (One summon, and two yellow ones. I can't do anything with these. Unless...) She was relieved to find that her Enemy Skill materia did, in fact, have White Wind.

Reno's wound was closed almost instantly. He stood up, brushed himself off, and walked over to her. He kissed her on the cheek. "Now we're even," he said. Suddenly they heard a voice coming in loud over the two-way radio.

.

_"That shot was courtesy of the Turks. You better believe now that Alcor will be dead by morning. We have a large amount of money wrapped up in this job from Shinra, even though we aren't employed by them anymore. But they offered the job, the money was good, so we decided to take them up on their offer this time... Shut up, Rude. Like it's dangerous for them to know we wised up and quit the Shinra gig. Or that we're doing the mercenary thing."_

Reno raised his eyebrow. "I would know that information leak anywhere. That was Elena." He grabbed the microphone and shouted into it. "Yeah, Elena, well it's me you hit with that, you wench! Don't think for a minute now that your ass is not grass! Where is your goddamn helicopter?"

Raieyana spotted the bright blue Turk helicopter and motioned to Reno. "It's blue. It has to belong to the Turks."

He smiled and grabbed his machine gun. He was interrupted by Elena's response.

__

"Reno! I had no idea you were part of the Alcor losers! Well, if you get your ass out of here right away, we won't shoot you down..."

Raieyana grabbed the microphone from Reno. "Don't you guys realize that this fire could have killed thousands of people? Who do you think is going to get the blame for this? Well, it sure as hell isn't gonna be us. And if we split, then no one will be left to defend Alcor."

_"Precisely,"_ said Elena.

Reeve's voice came over the radio. _"Ray, you and Reno get out of here. Yorlain and I will stay."_

"The hell we will," shouted Reno, "you guys can't do jack by yourselves!"

The conversation was halted immediately by a large explosion. The largest Shinra plane went down.

.

"I'll be damned," said Reno, "it's the Highwind."

_"You guys leave, now,"_ said Cid, _"try to make it to Undor-Hai. Reeve, you guys head to Ft. Condor. Being split up, you should probably be able to hold off anyone who follows you. I'll kick all the Shinra asses who stay here. No arguments, I don't want anybody dying on me. Over and out."_

"What should we do?" asked Raieyana.

Reno looked at her like she was crazy. "We're going to fly to Undor-Hai before we run out of gas. But wait...Undor-Hai..." He gave her a funny look. "Cid Highwind is one crazy-ass drunk bastard! Undor-Hai's just a legend."

Raieyana shook her head. "Just try to make it close to the ruins of Midgar if you can."

.

They ran out of gas near Kalm. Reno landed the helicopter at the last possible moment.

Raieyana sighed. "We have a long walk ahead of us." She yawned; they had been up all night.

Reno couldn't take his eyes off the beautiful scene in front of him. She was silhouetted perfectly against the morning sunrise. He didn't draw his eyes away even when they met her questioning look.

She walked over to him and rested a hand on his shoulder. "We should probably start walking," she said.

"Aren't you tired? I can get you a room at Kalm...or you could take a nap here, if you want."

Raieyana shook her head. "No. Besides, I did get a little sleep already. You're the one running on empty."

.

Reno hopped lightly onto the grass and reached back to help Raieyana down. He didn't take his hand off of her waist after he put her down.

"Reno," she said, trying to sound like she was joking, "let go of me, so we can go."

"But isn't this nice, being right here...and the sunrise..."

She wrenched herself free. "Next time," she spat out, "when I ask you to let me go, you're going to take your hands off me as quickly as you can. I'm not just some stupid little girl who would let anyone have their way with me. Look, I made a mistake before in kissing you. But you have to understand, I'm..."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," he interrupted, "you're with Reeve. Wonderful, neat, clean, moralistic, conscientious Reeve, the boy-wonder. The only reason you're angry at me is you don't want to find out whether or not you love him as much as you think you do. You're not angry at me for anything I did; you're angry at me because you might actually feel something for me."

"If Reeve was really your friend, you would leave me alone."

"And if you loved Reeve heart and soul like you say you do, you wouldn't have put so much passion into that kiss we shared."

.

Raieyana slapped him.

"If that makes you feel better about it, then I don't mind," Reno said, "but if you were firmly set in your emotions, my words couldn't have bothered you at all."

"In one ear and out the other. You don't affect me in any way. You just have pissed me off."

He grabbed her hand as she raised it for another blow. "If I don't affect you, then why are you trembling? Tell me, why are you scared of me? Of my touch? Of..." Forcefully, he kissed her.

At first she struggled, but then she gave into the temptation. Her lips met his with an equal fury. One of her hands rested on his shoulder as the other entwined in his hair. His lips moved down her neck as his hands moved upward from her waist. It seemed that the fire lit by their heated words could never be extinguished.

But Reno broke away. "No," he whispered, "you're just confused right now and Reeve would beat my ass. And really, I am to blame." He moved away, leaving Raieyana flushed and breathing heavily. But he was breathing just as heavily as she was.

.

"I'm sorry Raieyana, I shouldn't have instigated anything...I... Look, we should go to wherever the hell Cid wanted to meet us." (Something in the way she used to look at me made me think she didn't feel even a pang of emotion towards me. Yet, now I'm even more confused than she could possibly be. If she was indifferent, then she couldn't excite me so much...)

"Don't worry," he said, "as soon as Reeve has you safely back in his hands, you won't ever have to put up with seeing me again. I can assure you of that." (Because I couldn't stand it. I want her so bad...and I can't have her. And I accept that. Just...I need to hurry and get her away from me. Before we do something we both regret. I don't want to be the guy who goes after his friend's girl. I want to be a decent man. That's why I quit the Turks. But I'm messing up again, in a different way.)

.

They plodded towards Midgar, and unbeknownst to Reno, Undor-Hai. Neither one of them had spoken a word since their...romantic outburst. Raieyana, however, had been stealing guilty glances at Reno, and he at her. Every time their eyes met, they would hurriedly look away, ashamed.

Finally, at the outskirts of the ruins of Midgar, Raieyana spoke. "I'm exhausted. We need to stop. I...I need to rest."

Reno nodded. "I'm beat, too. Let's just sit down for a little bit." They sat.

.

"You know," Raieyana said, "Reeve told me he hadn't even thought for a second about...about anyone else these past seven years. Neither had I. Why now?" She looked at Reno. "Why now? Why now, after we've finally gotten back together, do I meet somebody who makes me doubt myself? Why?"

"Look," he said, trying to comfort her, "I promise from now on I will stay away. Don't worry...I won't try to rock the boat anymore."

"Maybe that's not what I want! I don't know if I want you to leave. I don't know if I feel anything for you. I don't know whether or not I would let you...maybe I even want you to. But through all of this confusion, I still think I love Reeve. Reno...Jack, is it possible to be attracted to somebody when you're in love with another person?"

"You tell me, Raieyana. Is it possible?" She nodded, her eyes brimming with tears. "But I wish it wasn't," she whispered.

"Oh," said Reno, "don't cry." He took her in his arms and held her. (And slowly...maybe, this is becoming more of an attraction. For me, at least. Steady, Reno. Don't hold her very close. I won't touch her any more than this. She's with my friend...that makes her a friend, but nothing more. I won't try to get her to be more than a friend. She's Reeve's...)

That's when the rope ladder from the Airship unrolled right next to them.

************

Lucas Shelding walked over to the large Mako-filled containers that housed his latest Soldier candidates. He checked the stats on each one, satisfied at his results. He heard a noise behind him, and turned in time to see Laida enter his lab.

"I just thought you'd like to know that Junon has been burning," she said, "and our plan is now underway. Reeve and Reno escaped the Turks just as we thought they would."

He smiled. "Excellent. Do we have enough evidence to hang Scarlet and Heidegger?"

Laida grinned mischievously. "Yes, and we did it all with ease, considering we had them both...distracted. How are our warriors coming along?"

"They are coming along excellent," he said, "and there shouldn't be any...nasty side effects with these. No Mako poisoning...none of the 'Reunion' craziness...hopefully none of the inexplicable rage of some of the former Soldiers...these are coming along in tip-top shape."

"Perfect," she said, "so what's our next step?"

.

Lucas walked over to a computer and punched a couple of keys. A picture of a young woman slowly gained clarity.

"Raieyana Amine," read Laida. "What's the point?"

"She is the key," Lucas said, "to making the next Sephiroth. She has not to date exhibited any of the symptoms other Mako/Jenova patients have had...and she is the daughter of Sephiroth, as documented by Hojo. She is also part Ancient. To get our hands on her would be to get our hands on the future of Shinra."

Laida studied the picture. "She is quite beautiful."

"Well," said Lucas with a grin, "there may be a few personal motives involved here as well. Some scientists don't leave all their emotions at the door to their lab."

"Just remember what the goal is," she reminded him, "we want the Promised Land. The Mako our Macroreactor could extract... Money is the only thing that makes me happy. And that would be insurance for my eternal happiness. Especially since you have almost figured out how to solve that pesky little problem of mortality."

"This close," he said, holding his thumb and forefinger and breadth apart, "this close."

************

"Ray, I'm glad you're safe." Reeve kissed her softly.

Raieyana forced a smile.

"I'm just a little disappointed that our desperate rescue was thwarted by the fact that you guys were perfectly safe," said Reno, "I thought the whole 'climbing up a wire' for a 'daring rescue' thing was exciting. But you safely found a helicopter. Whoo-hoo! Exciting."

It hit her. In the past eighteen or so hours, Raieyana had almost forgotten about it. But suddenly, she remembered. And she remembered that however much Reno attracted her, Reeve was who she trusted...and loved. (I need to tell him...I need to tell him.) "Reeve," she said, "I need to talk to you ...now."

He smiled. "Sure, Ray."

"Alone."

.

When they reached the chocobo stable, the only place on the Airship where they could be alone, Reeve laughed. "You don't have to tell me how much you hate Reno. I'm sorry you were stuck with him for so long, but..."

"Reno? No, he has...nothing to do with this. Reeve, I'm...I'm pregnant."

He shook his head. "You can't be...are you sure?"

She nodded. "I saw two lines."

"Well," he said, "am I correct in assuming that you're not going to have this baby? There is no way I would even consider letting you take the risks of childbirth again, after Lia told me about what it was like the first time. And not for Cloud Strife's child." 

"I have no other choice," she said.

"You can't."

"And what if this was the purpose of the rape in the first place? Do you want him to degrade me again for the chance of another conception? You know the chances of it are supposedly, like, one in a million. How many more times? One? Five? Twenty?"

"You're being crazy," Reeve said angrily, "there is no way in hell that his intention was...this... No way that anything like that was planned by destiny. It was just a perversion of the sickened mind of his."

"I had a dream," she said, "and one of my nightmares has come true again. You don't have to believe me. You don't have to help me. God knows I got through my first pregnancy just fine by myself!"

"I didn't know! Don't blame me when you didn't tell me!"

She turned to leave. "And if I had, would you have suggested I aborted our children, too?"

.

Reeve softened. "Ray," he said, reaching for her, "I'm sorry I yelled. But you...it wouldn't be safe for you to have the baby."

Raieyana shrank back. "Maybe I was wrong. Maybe we have changed since seven years ago. Don't you realize I have to do this? Maybe I was right seven years ago to keep my impending death a secret. You probably would have handled that by locking me up so I couldn't go to the crater."

He looked her straight in the eyes. "Don't say that! I know this has hurt you. I know that you're scared. But my concern is for your immediate safety. I swear to you I haven't changed; I love you as much as I ever did."

"I don't doubt you," she said, "I doubt myself. I know I said I still love you. But I've had to rely on myself for a long time now, and..."

"I swear to you," he said, his voice cracking with emotion, "that I will be there for you from now on."

"I can't come running to you every time I have a problem. Because some things I have to solve on my own. Maybe I was wrong in turning to you. This may be my own problem." She slowly walked out the door.

Reeve shook his head. (She doesn't need to prove to me that she can handle things. I never thought of her as a child. And I don't want her to get hurt.)

.

"Reeve?" Reno walked in through the doorway.

"Jack," Reeve said, "I just want to thank you for taking care of Ray."

Reno shook his head. "Don't. Believe me, you shouldn't. I have to tell you something now, because if I don't, I'll feel like I've lied to you, and we're friends. I made a pass at Raieyana."

Reeve shrugged. "You're human. It's not like no one has ever tried to come on to her before."

"No, Reeve. This is different. Nothing happened, but if we had waited one more second to get control of ourselves, something would have in the heat of the moment. The only thing that stopped me was the fact that you are my friend. Every other part of me was ready to go."

"What are you saying? Why," asked Reeve angrily, "do you bother to say 'we?' We both know she's not like that. Why don't you just tell me you tried to take advantage of her?"

"Because, Reeve, I truly think it was mutual, even though you may not believe it. And I need you to tell me--right now--to stay the hell away from that girl you're in love with...so I don't let myself do what I desire to do. I don't want to betray you, so make me leave her alone. And I'll leave and try to forget about her. But she's infected my blood."

"It's just infatuation, Reno, you'll get over it eventually," Reeve said.

"But maybe I'll end up acting on it before it burns out."

"Why can't you leave it damn well alone, Reno? Don't pester me about it. Fine, get the hell away from here if you can't trust yourself enough to keep your dick in your pants."

.

Raieyana was sitting on the deck when she heard Reeve's voice, yelling from down below.

_"Actually, go ahead, friend, and do whatever the hell you want. God knows I never deserved her anyway. Mack on her all you want. It's just too bad you won't be able to handle her when she's upset. It's just too bad you don't give a damn about her!"_

She ran down the steps and into the chocobo stable, where Reeve was screaming at Reno. One look at Reno told her he had confessed. "I heard you from on the deck," she said.

Reeve shrugged. "I should have seen this a mile away. The way you two were just now, when we picked you up, the way you were on the roof in Junon..."

"It was a mistake, I shouldn't have let him go on like that for so long," she said softly.

Reno gave her a shocked look, which she ignored.

"We were in a tense situation, and we got a little carried away," she explained.

Reno shook his head in disbelief. (Real tense, Raieyana. We were walking to Midgar, we argued, and I kissed you to rile you up more. You responded to it, and we almost did it right there on the grass. I thought you were attracted to me. For a split second, I wondered if maybe... For a split second.)

"I still love you," she said.

Reeve was positively beaming as her took her in his arms for a long kiss.

Raieyana actually prolonged the kiss, as proof to Reno that his caresses were long forgotten. But that's all she thought about as she kissed Reeve.

"Maybe you better leave, anyway," said Reeve, "if you still can't trust yourself."

Reno shrugged and walked out the door. The Airship dropped him off near Edinborough.

.

Raieyana soon realized what a mistake she had made, pinning all the guilt for what they both had done on Reno. After receiving a bum rap for being honest to his friend, he had returned to the one place where he didn't have to answer to anybody; Reno was rejoining the Turks.


	14. Part 5: Is Blood Thicker Than Water? - ...

Chapter 13

.

"Can you believe it? And we were really considering letting him in on the secret of Undor-Hai. I thought he was my friend. The way he talked about Ray. Like she would have slept with him or something if he hadn't gotten control of himself. Like she would have...when she can't even..." Reeve sighed and took a drag of his cigarette.

Vincent was silent for a moment, then spoke. "And if she seriously cared for Reno..."

Reeve laughed. "I will buy admission to hell just to be there precisely when it freezes over and I can buy a sno-cone from ol' Beelzebub himself."

Vincent shook his head. "He wouldn't have left you at Edinborough without good reason. Either something you said...or something Raieyana said...led him to believe that you would be better off without him. He wouldn't have said anything to you if he didn't feel really guilty about it. Maybe he fell for Raieyana hook, line, and sinker. He wouldn't be the first."

"Ishmael was the first," said Reeve.

"I was thinking more along the lines of Cloud. But he doesn't bother you. But then again...he's been nowhere to be seen."

Reeve pulled out another cigarette and lit it off the old one. "That's because maybe he finally realized that the next time I see him, I could kill him and be happy."

"Okay," said Vincent, "but he never used to bother you."

"That's because he hadn't... Well, he..." He angrily took a drag. "He raped her, Vincent. And I was in the next room. And I couldn't do a damn thing."

Vincent was quiet. "Look, Reeve..."

Reeve cut him off. "And now...she's pregnant again. By him. And she could get real sick. And die. But she's having the baby anyway...because she thinks the big man in the stars--who makes her life a living nightmare--decided that it was supposed to happen. And you know, Reno's suggestions made me so mad...because...this has affected her. She shrinks away to my touch...anyone's touch. And he said that..."

"He said what?" Waving away clouds of cigarette smoke, Yuffie entered the room. "Vince, you're gonna get lung cancer if you talk to Reeve much longer. I...I want to know about Raieyana."

"How much have you heard?" asked Reeve.

"Just the whole thing. And I thought maybe you'd like a feminine point of view to give your conversation new depth and perspective. Besides, the two little ones are taking naps and Kati's learning how to juggle or somethin'--Raieyana's watching her--and I... I guess I'm curious."

"I've just been going off about Reno."

Yuffie laughed. "Reno...he electrocuted me once. Vincey cured me."

Vincent visibly blushed at the pet name.

"But, I think that Raieyana," said Yuffie, "possibly...could have been attracted to Reno. You know the whole...wrong side of the tracks thing. But he worked with her dad, and just thinking of the people who work with my dad...ick." She shuddered.

"Hey," Reeve protested, "I worked with her father. I wasn't a Turk, but I knew the guy. He had a framed picture on the desk, and he would take out his little bottle of glass cleaner and clean it at least twice a day. He adored her, even though he hardly saw her. And me...I worship the ground she walks on. But Reno...I could easily kill him. Put his body in the refrigerator behind my old apartment building."

"Well," said Vincent, "I guess it's a good thing for him that he left." And Vincent made a mental note to tell Raieyana that he knew a place where she could go if her baby was really predestined like she thought it was. Because, if it was some special thing that the stars had aligned for, there would be someone--something, looking for that baby. And when push came to shove, he knew there was only one person who could sympathize with Raieyana's situation. Lucrecia.

************

It had been six weeks since Junon burned. Raieyana looked at the beautiful blue sky. It was a perfect spring day. She could smell the lilacs as she watched the children play. Playing in the backyard of their new house. Reeve had bought the house outside of Junon. They had only stopped in Undor-Hai to pick up Raieyana's things and the children. She still felt guilty about just taking off that way. Lia had been with her through so much...but Lia said she understood. The need to try and forget everything, to build a life with Reeve, for the children to get to know their father. And Reeve was a wonderful father. (That's why the whole thing with Reno was just foolish. Maybe if I had no one to worry about except myself... But I have a responsibility to my kids. Reno would have been no father. But that doesn't stop me for blaming myself for his departure. Ruining his friendship with Reeve.)

Reeve's closest friend in the world was now Vincent. He and Yuffie had come over to visit a couple of days ago. Raieyana still felt guilty. Reno had been his business partner. (And now he's back with the Turks...I know he is. He tried the good side of the road and got flattened by a delivery truck. I think he cared about me...in his own strange way...but that's not the way things happened. I'm with Reeve. And I'm damn well gonna make the most of it.)

************

The Alcor building had been nearly totaled by the fire. All of the business of the company was being done from the little associate office across town. Reeve went to work every day, and came home to his kids and their mother. But that didn't quite satisfy him.

"Vincent, Yuffie, I want Ray to marry me."

Neither one of them were surprised by Reeve's statement. Actually, they both had wondered why Raieyana and Reeve never had gotten married. In fact, when the entire group found out that Raieyana and Reeve had been apart for the greater part of the last seven years, they marveled at it. This was the greatest love story since the play "Loveless." But here they were, listening to Reeve's serious voice, telling them how he wanted her to marry him, and they cracked up.

"Well," said Yuffie between giggles, "I don't think she'll ask you. She's too old school for that."

"I don't know if you're ready for marriage Reeve," said Vincent, "you're not even thirty-five yet. Maybe you're too young."

"Sure, you two sit there and laugh, but I'm serious."

"So are we," said Yuffie, "we just have spent some time in disbelief that maybe you'll finally...pop the question? Nah...he's bluffing."

Vincent chuckled. "The only reason they're not already married is the fact that her father couldn't come after him with a shotgun and demand the kids be born in wedlock."

Yuffie sighed. "Our wedding day. Such happy memories."

This time Reeve joined them in the convulsive giggling. "But, seriously, Vincent. How did you ask Yuffie?"

"I didn't ask Yuffie. I asked Godo--to spare my life. When Yuffie told him she was pregnant, he threatened to castrate me! I told him that would be a good idea--unless he actually wanted more than one grandkid."

Yuffie had to get her remark in. "If Vincent had gotten down on his knee in front of me..." Vincent looked at her, expectantly. She gasped, trying to hold in her laughter. "...I'd still be laughing! It would've been a new world record. The longest a person has laughed after receiving a marriage proposal."

"Well now that I know how not to do it, do you, Vincent, have any suggestions?"

"When you said, 'do you, Vincent,' I had a major wedding-day flashback. Not happy times."

Yuffie glared at him, and then Reeve. "Why don't you think I would be of any help? I am the only girl here. I think I would know how a girl would want to be asked more than either of you."

"Ummm, Yuffster," said Reeve, "you're in a relationship where you're happy whenever your husband stops being Chaos long enough to get you pregnant again. You wouldn't be the expert on normal rela--"

Yuffie slapped him playfully. "My suggestion," she announced, "is that you just ask her, but wait for the right time. Make sure you two are alone--so no one else's presence would sway her decision either way."

"If she loves me, she would say yes in front of everyone else in the world."

Vincent smiled. "She loves you, and I truly think you have very little to worry about."

"You think I have a little something, though?"

Vincent grinned. "Who knows? She might not be the marryin' type."

Reeve shook his head. "Next time I want to propose, remind me not to ask advice--from either of you, at least."

************

Raieyana glanced through the kitchen window. (Reeve and Yuffie are out there, playing with the kids.) It was a nice thing to watch, kids playing in the dusk. (I remember when I was kid...on a day like this. One of those days you never want to end.) She remembered the long night seven years ago she had never wanted to end. (The eve of my death. I dreaded it with every fiber of my body. But the night itself was so perfect...every moment so beautiful...but I had no hope. Couldn't have imagined anything like this.) She checked on the chicken she had baking in the oven. This would be the first time her kids would ever eat meat.

"Looks nice," said Vincent, walking in from the living room.

"Thanks," she said.

"You know who is a goddess," Vincent said, "when it comes to chicken? Shera. I sure hope Cid tells her once now and then that he at least appreciates her. It's more than that, though Cid's one of those people who can't reveal their emotions."

"Vincent?"

He looked at her. "What?"

"I've thought about it a long time, tossed the statements around in my head... But your story about Sephiroth just doesn't add up."

"Do you think," he said angrily, "that I would lie about that? About...about Lucrecia?"

Raieyana looked him straight in the eye. "If you really are thirty-four...that makes my existence at my current age not only improbable; in fact, it makes it totally impossible. If you were only eighteen when you were a Turk--wait, if you were even sixteen, that makes Sephiroth eleven when he died. But I was sixteen! And I am his daughter, although sometimes I wish it weren't so, I am. There's a gap somewhere."

Vincent sighed. "You're correct. Sephiroth was exactly twenty when he died. He had acute acceleration of growth, otherwise he couldn't have become a hero in the war with Wutai. Hojo was able to keep Sephiroth's body from prematurely aging, but he couldn't stop his hair from turning white. I was twenty-three when Sephiroth was born. After Hojo's...experiment on me...I slept, for a long time. When I joined Cloud and the others, I estimated my body had aged around four or five years. So I said I was twenty-seven. I found out later that it had really been around twenty years. But no one has noticed the hole in my story...until you."

"Well, that's because I've had good reason to roll it around over and over and over in my head. Sephiroth was--biologically--my father. It's actually kind of funny he only had four years on me."

"Yes," said Vincent, "Sephiroth was younger than Cloud; yet, ironically, Cloud idolized him."

"Tragically, many idolized him. Some still do." Raieyana snapped out of the awkward mood and smiled. "Would you mind making us a salad?" she asked.

Vincent gasped. "A salad? Me? You know I only eat raw meat dripping with blood." He wrapped his cape over his arm and ran towards Raieyana. "I'd like to try a taste of your sweet blood," he said, with a horrible Transylvanian accent.

She shrieked and he chased her around the kitchen. "If you don't make the salad," she threatened, "I'll have to do something I never wanted to do...I'll make garlic bread to go with dinner."

"Ack! Anything but...garlic bread." Vincent smiled and calmly went to the fridge and hauled out a head of lettuce and some other veggies.


	15. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

.

Professor Shelding looked calmly at the five blue-suited Turks in front of him. Laida was sitting in a chair, smiling at how uncomfortable they looked.

"Look, Professor," said Elena, "the only reason we took the Junon job was because of our lag in work recently. We had no idea it was going to be so...unorganized. We have no desire to do another job for the Shinra."

Lucas pulled of his glasses and set them on his desk. "Look, this is an easy job. Get me this girl--no questions asked--in good condition, and there's a sum of money in it for you."

"How much?" asked Rude.

Lucas shrugged. "Give me a minute and I'll tell you my offer. But first, I want to make this clear. Tseng Amine spent the good part of fifteen years trying to find this one Ancient. I know he had some feelings involved and that's what took him so long. If you accept, I'll pay you a hundred thousand up front. You're guaranteed at least another hundred thousand if you eventually deliver her to me. The amount will decrease the longer it takes you. One month, I'll pay you the million; after that, it'll be less. If you get the girl within a month, I'll pay you a million gil. That doesn't sound bad to me. Or too difficult."

"The girl must be a peach if she's worth a mill," said Dorn.

Isabel giggled, "gee, Dorn, I had no idea the pay would be so good when we joined the Turks."

Reno looked at the new members with disgust. (It takes two to replace me, I know, but they had to find a couple of tittering idiots, didn't they?) "Look, I want facts on this girl you want us to find," he said, "most recent pic, full name, any aliases, complete physical description, last known whereabouts, last known companions. The more info you give me, the faster you get her. No picture, no description, no full name, you'll be lucky if we ever find her. I want two hundred thousand up front, I want a million guaranteed if we find her within the year and a five hundred thousand gil bonus if we get her in your hands within the month. I drive a hard bargain but I do my job. What'll it be?"

Lucas walked to the computer and punched some keys. "You can look at my information file on her. This is my final offer. Two hundred thousand straight up, one million if you find her in six months, two hundred and fifty thousand as a bonus if you get her within a month. Deal?"

Reno nodded, "Sure thing." He watched in amazement as the picture came into focus.

_Raieyana Amine. Current Age: 23. Last known whereabouts: Shinra building, Junon, seven years ago. Companions: Cloud Strife, Yuffie Kisaragi, Reeve Jordan, Ruther Randolph, Legolas Masterson. Physical Description: 5'4'', about 115 lbs., brown hair, green eyes. Comments: created in a Shinra lab by Prof. Hojo. Mother: the Ancient, Aeris Gainsborough(deceased); father: _**XXXclassifiedXXX**_; sister: _**XXXclassifiedXXX**.

.

"So," said Elena, "it's that pesky daughter of Tseng's."

"Shelding," said Reno, "what the hell do you mean by this 'classified' shit?"

Lucas shrugged. "You're not Shinra. Some things you just don't need to know."

"Give it up, Reno," said Rude, "we know it's Tseng's kid. Probably some more of the stupid 'Promised Land' nonsense."

"I hesitate at accepting this now that we know it's the child of our former colleague," said Reno.

"He turned Aeris in himself, all in the name of his work," said Elena, "this is our work. I would kidnap you, Reno, for my share of one and a quarter million."

"Any comments from the rookies?" asked Rude. Isabel and Dorn shook their heads adamantly, by virtue of both the amount of money involved and never meeting Tseng.

"We accept," said Reno, "and we'll find her well within our month."

************

Rude passed at Elena's invitation to the bar. He finally had everything set where he wanted it. A call and he would have things all fall into place. He took out his cell phone. "Hey, hon. In a few days...by helicopter...we will have our hands on a major bargaining tool. Something the Science Department at Shinra wants...the president of Alcor must want... Baby, we'll be rich."

_"Rude, what if I want out?"_

"Too late now. I'd have to kill you and take the kid. How is she, anyway?"

_"Look, when we talked a couple years ago...I was angry. I wasn't ever serious about us...being anything. I never loved you."_

"Somehow I think you will. After I'm in the money. I'll call you when the day comes and you'll be waiting at...our place."

_"Better not wait up for me."_

"If you're not there, I'll come and find you. You won't deny me what I want."

************

Laida was at her desk when the phone rang. "Yes?"

_"Laida. Some police from Junon are here with warrants for Heidegger and Scarlet."_

She chuckled. (I know. I gave the officers the anonymous tip myself. And the evidence that implicates them in the fire.) "Look, let them go get them. It would be bad for our P.R. if we were harboring the culprits responsible for the 'Fire of Junon.'" She hung up on that line and pushed the button for line three--Communications Department. "Martin? After Scarlet and Heidegger get hauled off, give a press conference announcing our embarrassment at the criminals we have found in our midst...oh, and give a sugary-sweet message directed to Alcor offering to help them out in any way possible during their time of need. Bye." She sighed. (I'm so busy today.) She dialed a Junon number.

_"Alcor of Junon, may I help you?"_

"Hey, Lavana. They just came for Scarlet and Heidegger."

_"That's great. So, it's not going to be too much longer, is it? I mean, with the co-presidents in jail, can't you just ascend to their position?"_

"It's not that easy. Lucas is ahead of me in line."

_"There's co-presidents. You'll get the other position. Besides, you like him. He's developing the fountain of youth for us."_

"I still don't want him to be president instead of me."

_"Of course not, but maybe he'll give it to you so he can pursue his sciencey stuff."_

"And you?"

_"I will soon move to Edinborough...after getting all the inside information I can here. Did you know Reno quit here?"_

"Actually, I do. He's back with the Turks, running a job for Lucas."

_"That's very interesting..."_

************

Lavana hung up the phone. (Very interesting, indeed.) She decided she needed some coffee, even though it was well into the afternoon, and left her temporary office. She ran straight into Raieyana and Aeris and Ishmael. "You shouldn't bring kids into a place of business," she said, matter-of-factly.

Raieyana shook her head. "I just need to talk to Reeve really quick."

"He may be busy. After all, he's working. Although someone like you doesn't understand things like that. It's funny that after a few days with you, Reno ran straight back to the Turks, perhaps...choosing the lesser of two evils?"

"Ray." Reeve stopped and kissed her on the cheek. "What're you doing here?"

"I was going to the store to pick a few things up and wondered if you needed anything."

"I need some more cigarettes. Can you get me a carton?"

Raieyana laughed. "You've been trying to quit for seven years! I doubt you ever will."

He shrugged. "I've been trying. Well, see you later, bye." He walked away.

She gave a pointed look to Lavana. "I told you I would only be a minute. I know he has to work. But I don't think you ever do."

Avoiding the comment, she gave Raieyana a half-smile. "Unless you're pregnant again, I'd cut down on the sweets," she said. Raieyana turned and left. Lavana smirked. (That has to be my greatest comeback ever.)

************

It had been two days, and still the remark rang in her ears.

_"Unless you're pregnant again, I'd cut down on the sweets."_

Raieyana looked in the mirror. Her abdomen had begun to swell slightly, but she had thought the bulge was only noticeable to her. (I never showed anything so soon the last time.) She had hoped that the baby would develop at a normal rate, but it was starting to fly out of control. (At this rate, I'll have the baby in...about four months.) Six months gestation? Unheard of. This was no normal baby. She placed her hand over her abdomen, as if she expected some detectable motion so early. (It wouldn't surprise me totally if I went into labor tomorrow.) Raieyana looked towards the birth with dread. The baby could not be normal. The morning sickness had come and gone too quickly...and what Lavana had said... It was nasty, to be sure, but it had a foundation, no matter how petty and small. (At least I'm not getting fat. Hey, Lavs! I am pregnant again. And I doubt my hips are going to expand to enormous proportions.)

There was a knock on the door. "Come in," she said.

"We're leaving tomorrow for Wutai," said Vincent, "and even though I wanted to spend the last night talking to you and Reeve... I have to tell you something. I saw Reno today. He wants to meet you...tonight...alone. I didn't tell him anything. I just said I'd deliver the message. But...he was wearing the Turk uniform."

Raieyana sighed. "I don't doubt he was. I'm sure you could recognize it a mile away in the dark. Vincent, I have to go. I have to apologize. I made it seem like he...was, like, constantly hitting on me...and I caved into pressure or something. I know some of it I initiated myself. I'll go and apologize and move on. Maybe he'll come back to Alcor. It would make me a little less uneasy. He's a very good shot with a gun...I'd rather have him on my side."

Vincent nodded. "I'll cover for you. He wanted to meet you at around eight o'clock. Outside some deli thing... I don't know what that is."

"Well," she said, "it used to be a 'Shinra-only' bar, but Weapon destroyed the patronage. Now it's a deli."

************

Raieyana felt little guilt as she stepped out into the clear night. (I don't want to lie...but Reeve would die if he knew about this. I just have to say my thing to Reno. I don't want to leave this unresolved, because you never know when the day will come and a person will be gone forever. No one alive on this Planet knows that better than I.) She really didn't mind walking into the city. The only thing she disliked was going through the deteriorated Under Junon. The pollution and everything depressed her. She didn't have to pay the elevator guard any money anymore; all the police and civil servants had full faith in Alcor. One thing was for certain: the Shinra didn't control Junon anymore.

She glanced around Sondra's Deli. Perplexed, Raieyana checked her watch. (Eight o'clock... Maybe he meant the back of the deli.) She walked around the building into the dark alley. She heard a crash and a yowl. An alley-cat ran out of a dumpster, pursued by a large dog that looked at least half St. Bernard and part Golden Retriever. But no one else was there. She shivered in the shadows.


	16. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

.

Raieyana was suddenly grabbed by a Turk on each side. She noticed she was being approached by Elena on the right, and Rude on the left. She only had two thoughts. (Where's Reno? Could this have been...a trap?)

Elena looked her over. "Tseng's daughter...you don't do his DNA justice. So, we meet again. This time, however, I have a few words for you."

"I'm sure you do, Elena," said Rude, "but we don't want to hear them."

A tall figure emerged from the shadows.

.

(Reno.) He had changed--greatly--since Raieyana had seen him last...he was different compared to when she had ever seen him. His hair had been cut and it left him with the red mess tamed into shorter spikes. His suit had never been in order like this. Perfect...there were even creases in the pant legs. He had...shined his boots... He removed his sunglasses and looked directly into her eyes. Even with all the changes, his eyes were no different...the same light, glowing, piercing combination between blue and green. His face betrayed not one emotion. Not anger, love, hatred, nor pity. He just sized up the situation, noting Raieyana's reactions.

Lest he eventually betray any of his feelings, he quickly spoke. "Take her to the helicopter. This is the easiest money we'll ever make."

(He lied. He lied! And I even hoped...albeit for only a split second...that he wasn't part of this. That he would save me. No, he's in charge of the Turks again... And I'm being... kidnapped for some reason. Somebody's paying them. Reno, I had contemplated, wondered, or maybe I just had imagined you cared for me. Was it something else? Did you only want sex from me? Did Reeve know you better than I thought I did?)

There was a crash as Dorn and Isabel went down under Cloud Strife's attack. Raieyana flinched. (A mixed blessing.)

Elena drew her gun. "Reno, Rude get the girl. We can handle this."

With little concern for comfort, Rude grabbed Raieyana by the wrist and pulled her to the helicopter. With one last straining look, she saw Cloud knock the gun out of Elena's hand. She felt oddly relieved. (But remember when Reno asked me why I didn't attack him? I don't want to see anyone die, not even a criminal. But what if Cloud kills the Turks? As long as I don't see it.)

Rude threw her to the floor of the helicopter. "Get us the hell outta here, Reno." Reno steered the helicopter away from Junon, but not towards Edinborough.

He stole a shy glance at Raieyana. She was staring straight ahead out the windshield. She was silent; he didn't know how hard she was trying to keep from crying. (I'll just take her somewhere. Apologize for trying...even considering the Shinra job. Rude'll understand. He still wants Tifa, and I never said we had to kidnap her or anything. I don't want to do this anymore. There isn't enough money available in the world to compensate for...her...) Then he felt the cold metal of a gun pressed to the back of his neck.

"Funny," said Rude, "I didn't want to go to Edinborough, anyway." He smiled. "Land it. In the grass. Now. Don't pull any fast moves. This girl here is my retirement money."

When the helicopter was safely on the ground, Reno turned to Rude. "What the hell are you going to do?" asked Reno.

"What were you going to do?" he replied.

Raieyana shook her head. "The only friend that you have in the world, Rude, and you have him at gunpoint. What a man! Let me tell you, a man has a couple of things you don't--loyalty and integrity! You can't even be good to the Turks? Where do you go when you have nothing left?"

Angered by her words, Rude hit her on the face. The blow knocked her out of her chair.

She looked up from where she was kneeling on the ground. "That all you got? I've had much worse," she taunted.

He moved towards her, but was attacked by Reno before he was anywhere near her. With a groan, Reno fell to the ground. Blood started soaking through his shirt. Rude wiped off his knife with a handkerchief and put it back into its hiding place.

"Reno," Raieyana gasped. She kneeled next to him.

"If you try any fast moves, I'll kill him," said Rude, then addressing Reno, "I didn't know you had a thing for Ancients. You said this kid was Reeve's chick. Or maybe you had a thing for Tseng and you want some of his."

Reno made another attempt at Rude.

Rude laughed. "I would stay right there unless I enjoyed being slashed with knives." He turned to the controls. "We're going to Gongaga. Rude's gonna make a fortune, let me tell you." Rude glanced behind him. Reno was bleeding steadily right onto the floor. (He could die from that. Oh, well. You gotta expect some casualties in a war.)

************

Rude led them to a house in Gongaga. It was the middle of the night, so no one was up and about to see them. Rude unlocked the door. "Not the best of places, but it was the best I could get on my Turk salary. But you, my little lady, you're going to bring in some heavy dough. I'm auctioning you off to the highest bidder. And if it's Reeve, then you'll go back to him. If it's Shinra, there you go. If Reno has some secret fortune stashed away...he better spend it on some good curative materia. I have a cell in the basement for you. There's only one cot. I wasn't expecting to have to drag Reno here. But he probably doesn't mind sharing."

Rude locked the door after Raieyana and Reno made it inside. "Wait," she cried, banging on the door, "what am I supposed to do about Reno? He'll die if I don't do something! Give me some materia, anything!"

Rude opened the door again and handed her a bottle of iodine. "At least he won't die from infection," he said with a smile. Reno was leaning against the wall, with labored breathing.

"Lie down on the cot. I can't do much...but I can't let you die on me." Raieyana blushed. "You're going to have to take off your shirt for me. It's been slashed...and I can use it for bandages." He handed it to her. She tore it into long, thin strips. She winced. "This is going to hurt like hell, Reno. It's iodine. For the love of God, he had to give me iodine."

Reno just smiled weakly. "Like 'hell?' That's the closest I think I've ever heard you some to swearing. I'm a bad influence on you." He looked at her. "And you didn't bring your weapons? No materia?"

She shook her head, refusing to meet his eyes. (I...trusted you. It's not my fault...) "This will hurt. But it will prevent you from dying by way of germs. The cut isn't very deep; it's just really long." She poured the iodine over the cut, which reached from the lower part of his abdomen to across and up his right side. Reno gasped at the sting, but he didn't cry out. She wrapped the strips around him. Finally, it was all covered and the bleeding had stopped for the most part.

Raieyana wanted to make conversation, but she only had one topic in mind. "I really thought you were going to take me to the Shinra," she said softly.

Reno laughed bitterly. "Yeah, so did I. And I kept thinking that way, so set in my mission, until I saw you again. The way you were looking at me. After you realized I was running the deal, you looked so hurt, so...so... That hurt me more than this." He gestured to his wound.

"But," she said, "even though it may seem conceited, I can't help but think that I'm to blame for some...all of this. I shouldn't have let Reeve place all the blame on you..."

"Raieyana, he wanted to."

"...and I'm an adult and I am responsible for my own actions! Just because you had your lips and hands on me didn't mean I had to give up! I let you do it. And I...I..." Her face crumpled. "...and I liked it," she whispered.

.

Raieyana couldn't tell Reno all the things she had been wondering, asking herself. (Do I still love Reeve, now? I can't think of anything when I'm with Reno but Reno. How much I want to touch him...how much I want him to hold me...and...and...) She smiled weakly at him when she noticed he was looking at her with an amused expression. "What?"

He grinned. "I've never seen someone have an argument in their head before. Your eyes would look green, and then they would glow, and then they would be green, and then they would glow... Tell me, what can't you decide?"

(I can't tell him the truth...) "Oh," she said lightly, "I was just wondering if the myth about pregnant women craving pickles and ice cream was true just because I have the occasional craving for a bagel with cream cheese."

He gave her an incredulous look.

"What? Cream cheese is dairy and so is ice cream, and... Oh, never mind. How are you feeling?" she asked, changing the subject.

"I want an aspirin. I want some fucking morphine. I'm in pain. But..." (Nothing hurts me like this craving for you... What the hell was that? Some kind of thing a love-sick puppy would say in a country and western song after whining for four minutes about how his doggy ran away! I'm gonna have to keep my wits about me and not act like an idiot and look for a chance for escape and get her back to Reeve.)

"It's not fair," she said, "you don't deserve this. You only attacked him because he was going to hit me again. I could have handled it. I've been hit before."

"Raieyana. I've been a bad man. I think...I just think that maybe, just maybe--this is some sort of punishment for me. Retribution on my part. Because you see, a death would be so quick, no pain. But this, my stomach is throbbing, so is my head... This is some sick, twisted punishment." (And the other part of that punishment is you.)

"You're not a bad man, Reno..."

"Yes, I am. I watched Sector 7 fall. Hell, I set the fucking bomb that made the goddamn thing collapse."

She looked him straight in the eyes. "No! My father just sat and watched, too. He was not a bad man and neither are you. Because if you were, I couldn't...I couldn't..."

"Couldn't what?" he prompted her.

"I couldn't give a damn. I couldn't care about you. If you were just greedy and just mean and just a womanizer, I could let myself hate you."

"So what am I besides greedy?" Reno asked.

Raieyana sat, silent. (I've already said more than I wanted to say. But I care about him... There's nothing wrong with that! I've said I cared about Cloud before. But I didn't mean it like this.)

"What? What good is there in me? Christ, Raieyana, I want you to tell me what good you see. I've never wanted anyone's acceptance before, never needed anyone's approval. But if I didn't meet up to your standards for a good person...I would..."

(Tell me, Reno. You would what?)

"I never cared," he said, "about what someone thought about me before. There is nothing, nothing which would make me happier than for you to tell me why you have hope in my eternal soul. The reason why you think there's even a chance I might see the Promised Land."

Raieyana looked into his earnest face. The same eyes as before, yet he didn't--or he couldn't--restrain any emotions this time. She saw a little desperation, some warmth, and mostly hope. "A person who was truly evil couldn't care whether or not I thought he was evil. By virtue, that one thing makes you good. But you want a real reason. I don't have one. All I know is when I look in your eyes, and you're not making an effort to cover your feelings in that 'professional Turk' face, I see the real you. And the real you..." She paused. What she truly thought was that the "real Reno" cared about her. But she wouldn't say that. (I can't! Reno, look at me and...just know. Please.) He closed his eyes with a sad sigh.

(Raieyana doesn't have a reason because I'm not a good person. And however friendly she is to me, she can't change that! She can't accept it, but she can't change it! And...) He felt her hand close over his. She was kneeling on the ground beside the cot. She rested her head on his arm.

"Please don't take me the wrong way. I just can't explain it...how I know. But I do know."

.

He opened his eyes and found himself drawn to her hopeful ones. She had a piece of hair right in between them. Reno reached up and gently brushed it from her face. He felt her hand on his tighten as he touched her. "Don't make excuses," he said, "I know how I am. Don't feel bad that it's the way I am. I...I... Thanks for trying, though."

Raieyana had been paying attention to the entire conversation, really. Reno was of the belief that he was evil and doomed to hell. (And I'll be damned that I can't take my eyes off his body when he's in distress.) Reno had a nice body, though. Washboard abs, large muscles on his arms. She had only seen him fully clothed before. She was getting her eyes' worth now. She glanced at his face. He was looking at her sadly now. She tried to speak reassuringly, but the words refused to come out. So she did the thing that came natural.

Nothing physical between them had ever been initiated by Raieyana. But Reno felt her lips on his and enjoyed it, for the moment. Then he pulled away.

"What is it?" she asked.

"I... I..." (I want more than this. I want to be able to freely say what I feel.)

"You want something more," she said, with a half-smile.

(She read my mind.)

She leaned back and kissed him with a greater passion. After debating with himself, Reno separated himself from her yet again. "No, Raieyana. That's not what I want. I mean I want it, but..." (If I told her I loved her that would end everything. We can pretend it's just hormones or shit, but if I admit how I feel, I will lose her. I won't get to see her. And I've never been in love before.)

"Reno, I don't want to hurt you anymore than I already have."

"I treasure the pain." Judging by Raieyana's shocked expression, he really had said his last thought out loud that time. He paused, knowing the implications of confessing his feelings. He also realized the implications of remaining silent. (Tseng loved that Ancient, Aeris. He never told her before he died. She never knew... Do I want her to know, or do I want her to go?) "I love you, Raieyana."

There was silence. A tear slowly rolled down her cheek. "I think I knew that somehow, deep inside." She turned to him. "What do I say to Reeve? One time he said he owed his very sanity to me. What do I tell him?"

Reno shrugged. "You don't have to tell him what I just told you. Don't let it bother you, either. In this world, there are always some one-sided relationships. Now I have one."

She shook her head. "Reno. How can I say I don't want to be with him now that I've finally gotten him back? He told me he never thought of me as a child. So how do I explain to him that it feels now that a little child was the one waiting for him with undying love? It's been seven years, and I was alone for an awfully long time. And I was the one with the first words. I was the first one out of the two of us to say 'I still love you!' Was it because I had convinced myself that I really did? Was it because I thought my life had no worth if the reason I used to live for was now something that I hardly considered anymore? This is going to traumatize my kids..." She gave in to the tears and sobbed into her hands.

Reno watched her. He felt now that he was just a turning point in her life. A turning point in a life that had just begun to blossom. (After all, I'm nearly fifteen years older than her. I worked with her father. If he was still alive, I would have gotten a nice Turk gunshot from him by now for even considering a relationship with her. But at least she realized in time that she wasn't the sixteen year old kid who loved Reeve. She's right, though; this will hurt him too deeply.) "...Raieyana?"

His voice cracked on the second syllable of her name. She looked up.

"Oh, Reno, I'm sorry. I didn't even remember you were there, I was so upset... Reno, you okay?"

He had closed his eyes, mentally willing the pain away. He knew she didn't love him. He had always known. He had been a fool to hope.

"Reno? Are you in pain?"

(Just a little agony, and some anguish.) "No," he said, "I can handle it. My cut doesn't hurt that much...I had just nearly forgotten it. It was just because I moved, and then, boy, did I remember!"

Raieyana was at a loss for words. (Every time I've ever said "love" before in my life to someone, it seems as though it were too hasty. But now, I think that I have to tell him. I do love him. Why else would I go into a dangerous city after dark to meet him, alone, without weapons? I wanted to just go away and forget about my troubles for a little while. But I can't ignore this trouble. I can't make it go away. I've tried, God knows I have, but I can't pretend that I don't have feelings for him. That I don't...just want to make love to him right now, no matter if Rude sees or hears or not.) She had truly shocked herself with her thoughts. The first time she had slept with Reeve was a comfort for her. She was in agony over Ishmael's death, and wanted to forget. But Reno, she just wanted him. She refused Reeve but had now twice handed herself over to Reno. And he refused. Raieyana was Reeve's. "Not anymore," she whispered.

Reno was half asleep. "What's 'not anymore?'" he asked.

"I'm not going to deny the parts of me that scare me just because I don't want to hear what they have to say. I'm not going to lie to myself anymore."

He closed his eyes. "Good, Raieyana," he said. He was ready to fall asleep. She softly kissed his hand, which was the oddest thing she could have done at the moment. It really caught his attention.

"What are you doing? Raieyana?" he whispered.

"I love you," she said softly. Then she got up and walked to the other side of the cell. He sat up and squinted at her in the darkness. She wasn't crying, as he had thought she would.

"What did you say?"

"You, you," she stammered, "you heard me."

"I don't believe it."

"Then don't. It won't make me love you any less."

.

He struggled to get off the cot.

"Reno, what are you doing? You can't get up!"

"I can't...reach you over there. I can barely see you." Before he finished his last sentence, she was climbing into the cot beside him. He stopped her. "Just one last thing. Before... No regrets. About now, before, or later. Tell me now. Do you have any regrets?"

"The only regret I'll have is if you refuse me a third time."

"Raieyana, we hardly have any privacy..."

"I don't care," she said stubbornly, "what if we don't get out of here for a long time? I can't wait any longer. You didn't believe it when I said it before... I love you, Reno. I want to be with you. I want it to be like that day in the helicopter again."

He kissed her softly. "No," he whispered, "we were angry that time. Not now..." He kissed her again, more deeply. His entire body stiffened as a great pain went through him.

Raieyana was startled. "Reno? You okay?"

He tried to smile. "Just a throb." But he was sweating and his breathing was raspy. He lay his head down and a convulsion went through him. "I'm just fine, Raieyana... Just fine." He closed his eyes and she did not know whether he was asleep or comatose. Raieyana checked his watch for the time. 1 A.M. The night was far from being over.


	17. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

.

(She went to meet Reno. And she never came back.) Reeve held back the urge to go put a bullet in Vincent's head. Vincent had let her go meet him alone...hell, Vincent was the one that told her Reno wanted to meet her. Reeve had tried and tried to remain calm in the two days that had passed since Raieyana had disappeared on the pretense of running errands, but he was close to desperation. There had been no news about the whereabouts of either Raieyana or Reno.

"Reeve...I mean, Daddy?"

He looked up into the eyes of a certain little girl named Aeris. "What is it, honey?"

Her lower lip trembled and her eyes filled with tears. "Where's Mommy? Was she killed by a Cactuer?"

Reeve shook his head, amazed at the imagination involved with her selection of a Cactuer as her mother's murderer. "No... Your Mommy's just fine. She most certainly was not killed by a Cactuer. She's nowhere near a Cactuer. There aren't any that live around here."

She looked at him in wonder, then ran out of the room. He could hear her voice. "Ishmael, Daddy said there ain't any Cactuers around here!! You lied to me and I'm going to tell on you!" Someone knocked on the front door.

"Cloud. Get the hell out of here." Reeve was in the process of slamming the door in his face when Cloud spoke.

"I just want to know if Raieyana's okay. She got into some trouble the other night."

"Ray never came home. What do you know about it?" Reeve demanded.

"She was with a whole bunch of Turks. It looked like they were going to kidnap her. I attacked three of them: Elena and two rookies. I thought she got away from the other two."

Reeve sighed. "Raieyana left unarmed. I guess the other two were Rude and Reno, so she's probably in a lab in Edinborough by now."

Cloud shook his head. "No. I killed the rookies, but Elena escaped. I guess she reported it in Edinborough. Rude and Reno have been missing since that night. Shinra has no idea where they are, either. My best guess is that one of them has Raieyana and the other as hostage. Or they've made a pact between them for money. I heard that the Science Head at Shinra offered the Turks one and a half million gil if they got her within the month. Sure it's a lot of money split five ways, but even more split two. And if this leak gets to you--and it was obviously intended to--someone's figuring you'll up the ante."

"Well, whoever 'they' is, 'they' are an idiot if they think I would bid for Ray! We'll just go into wherever they're hiding out and get her back. We'll kick 'their' asses while we're at it."

Cloud smiled. "I noticed you said 'we,'" he said sadly.

"I guess I did," said Reeve, "because I'll need all the help I can get. I suppose I could get Yuffie and Vincent to help us. I won't bother the others."

"Why not? They probably want to know," said Cloud, "that Shinra wants Raieyana. You know they have to want her for experimental reasons. She's the only thing--besides me--left that's even remotely like a clone. And to their knowledge, she's the only living Ancient."

"To their knowledge," repeated Reeve slowly.

"Your kids are in danger. If there is an informant at Alcor--and I highly doubt there isn't--somebody at Shinra's gonna find out Raieyana's had children."

Just thinking of his children being experimented on enraged Reeve. He clenched his fists. "That Shelding will not get his hands on Ray--or our kids!"

"This is the worst possible time that they could possibly get her. I have something to do with that. I'm sorry." Reeve's eyes blazed. "But," Cloud continued, "even though I can't excuse my actions...perhaps I can help you understand the causes. I can only liken it to the experience you had in the crater seven years ago and tell you that it took seven years for the Jenova to wear me down on that point. But I let it wear me down... And I've secured my passage into hell."

Reeve could not say anything. (I can kind of understand. But I can never forgive him. Maybe it's hypocritical, maybe it's selfish, but I just can't. Because what he did distanced Ray from me at the time when we where just beginning to be close again. If Cloud had kept control, there wouldn't have been that gap in our relationship for Reno to hop into and widen. But Cloud is my key to rescuing Raieyana, I must trust him. And even if his motives were--are--warped, he still wants to rescue her as much as I do. Maybe even more...because he wants redemption.)

************

The cell door opened for a moment, as Rude deposited the bread and water which Raieyana understood would be a daily ritual.

"Raieyana," he had said the day before, "I don't want you to starve. You have to be in good condition or you won't draw much money."

He failed to mention Reno. The portions, as a matter of fact, were adequate enough...but only for one person. A person in good health. Not anything near adequate for a person recovering from major loss of blood or a pregnant woman. Especially not both of them. But Raieyana nursed Reno through the second day of his fever. He barely woke from his delirium to take the pieces of the bread she had softened in the water for him. When he sweated from hot flashes, she wiped his face with a wet rag, courtesy of his torn shirt. When he shivered with chills, she drew the thin blanket from the cot tightly around him. A couple of times when he was really bad, she lay there beside him, holding his shaking body in her arms.

Sick as he was, Reno consumed most of the food. Raieyana saved a meager bit for herself. She spent most of the time worrying about his health. When she tired of that, she worried about her own health. Although she was hardly comparable to the last time she was pregnant, she knew last time she was sick when she was this far along. If she got sick now, both she and Reno would die. Yet this time, she had barely even noticed any side effects to the pregnancy. On an average person, the change in appearance would have been barely noticeable; on Raieyana, who had been a little too thin in the beginning, it was rather obvious now that she had gained a little weight. She was still thinner than the average person...but there was a little bulge in her abdomen and a little worry line on her face every time she remembered it. Reno suddenly stirred.

Raieyana got up and carried over some bread. He looked tired, but he was aware again of his surroundings--at last.

"I'm not hungry," he said, his throat dry. She handed him a glass of water. He drank it slowly. She placed her hand on his forehead.

"Your fever must have broken," she said, with a smile of relief.

Reno closed his eyes. "I had a lot of hallucinations when I had that fever...but I had this really nice one. About a little nymph who sang to me about the Promised Land."

Raieyana reddened. The night before, when Reno was thrashing about, she had sang to him. It was a poem written by the Ancients that she had translated. She was enchanted by it, and set it to music. She sang it to her children sometimes before bedtime. It was the only thing she could think of to do to soothe Reno is his sickness.

"I sang to you last night," she said, a little embarrassed.

_"Beyond the horizon, across the farthest sea..."_ Reno quoted.

"...I know there is a place where I belong, and it always beckons me. Past and present, now and forever, I shall reach for this special space, the home of my dreams and pray it is my resting place," Raieyana finished.

"It's even better now that I know it wasn't a dream. You don't look well. Are you okay?"

"Oh," Raieyana said lightly, "I've just been worried about you. Maybe I stayed up with you more than I ought to...but then, if I hadn't, you might still be sick."

"You should be worried about yourself, Raieyana."

She smiled. "Why? You're worse off than I am at the moment."

Reno shook his head. "No," he said, "you are in more danger than you think. Let's say this deal works out in Rude's favor and the Shinra pay him the money he wants for you. Even if Shelding wanted you because you were an Ancient, he'll want to have your baby more. He'll want to examine it and he'll want your other kids and he'll probably clone you all. You're in danger."

"Reno," Raieyana said, "don't you think I know that? Don't you understand that I do worry about that? I worry about more than you know. I even know more reasons why Shelding...if that's the name of the guy at Shinra who's head of Science...would want me. Sure, the whole Ancient thing is enticing to any madman, but chances are he wants to play Dr. Frankenstein. I don't doubt he knows who my father was. That probably intrigues him."

"Why would a Turk be intriguing?" asked Reno.

"He wouldn't be. My father wasn't a Turk."

"What the hell do you mean? Of course he was. Tseng was the commander..."

Raieyana interrupted. "Tseng wasn't my father--biologically."

"You lied!" said Reno angrily.

"I didn't lie...Hojo did! Tseng always believed he was my father. You know how I found out the truth? I read it in a report in the basement of an abandoned house in Nibelheim."

"Now really, Raieyana. How could you have known it was about you?"

Her eyes blazed. "You don't believe me? The dates involved were too perfect. And the descriptions worked out as well. One of the babies had a blue tattoo of the Roman numeral 'I.' So do I. And there was a postscript mentioning how Hojo had told Tseng we were his children."

Reno touched her hand. "We?"

"Yeah. My own sister put out a warrant for my arrest. My own sister calmly forced one of our childhood friends to kill himself. She drove another one mad. My own sister used Shinra to install her plans for resurrection...the resurrection of Sephiroth."

Reno saw the image of Aysta Laurince in his mind. (She had been kind of crazy.) "We just took the jobs," he said, "and never asked questions. She must have been really messed up. Resurrect Sephiroth! You would have to be demented to want to do that."

Raieyana shrugged. "She was. But she is partly justified in her actions. She just wanted to raise her own father."

(Father? Her... Sephiroth...Raieyana's father? No!) He grabbed her by the shoulders and turned her so she faced him. "You are wrong to even suggest you are the offspring of that monster! Ugly, vile, loathe, evil...you are none of those things. There was a mistake somewhere..."

"Reno, you don't know how many times I've tried not to believe it. But it's true. And if it makes me a monster, then I am a monster."

Reno stood up--stiffly--and held her in his arms. "I don't care...even if you mutate into Jenova-LIFE in the next minute. You're still Raieyana. And if you're a monster, then I wish I could be a monster."

She smiled. "That's very sweet."

"But this is sweeter." He kissed her.

"How are we going to get out of here?" she whispered.

"Leave it to me," said Reno.


	18. Part 6: Illusions of the Better Life - ...

Chapter 17

.

In two weeks, Reno had gotten stronger and Rude had gotten madder. It seemed that he didn't dare pull a move until someone showed up. Of just who that happened to be, no one was certain. Day by day he grew more tense and irate, more threatening. Meager rations grew even more meager. Raieyana never ate a fraction of her share. Until today, she had managed to hide that fact from Reno. Until today.

"That's the last straw, Raieyana. Just tell me, how long have you been starving yourself? No more. Today you are going to eat every last crumb of that bread. And...you will tomorrow, too."

"Reno, you're insane! After all this time, there is no way I could eat it all if I wanted to! You'll have to be satisfied with a noble attempt to eat my half...and I give you no promises at that."

They heard a doorbell ring. They heard Rude leap for the door. "It's about time you showed up! Where the hell's the kid?"

.

To Raieyana's surprise, she recognized the voice that replied. "You know very well I wouldn't bring her here even if I was dying and you were the last cognizant person alive. I just came to tell you to stop calling me. I don't want to hear from you. I don't want to see you." She heard Reno approach the stairs to the basement.

"Maybe," he said smugly, "you'll change your mind when you see what I got my hands on."

Tifa never expected to see Raieyana locked in Rude's basement, or Reno. She hadn't known of Raieyana's disappearance because no one besides Cloud, Vincent, or Yuffie had been told.

"So," said Rude, "here she is, the quote 'bitch you cannot stand.'"

Tifa gasped. The one-night stand with Rude had been a major release for aggression. She had never expected the thing to come back and haunt her in so many ways. She met him in a bar after Cloud had refused her...for the last time, she had vowed. If Cloud didn't want her, somebody else must! And her jealousy of his affection for Raieyana had slipped into the conversation. There was something seriously wrong with Rude to make him do this. Terribly wrong. Tifa raised her hand and clocked Rude.

.

Tifa somehow managed to unlock the cell door before Rude knocked her out. Reno instantly was on top of Rude, and payback was sweet. Blood poured from Rude's broken nose.

Reno glanced at Raieyana. "I'm sorry. I know that it's just uncontrolled aggression, and I should overcome it..."

He was rendered speechless as she lifted Rude's gun off of him. Worries and frustrations had been mounting in her as she lay confined in this basement in Gongaga. Hopes and fears had been exposed plain as day. Rude had made her hurt. He had hurt Reno. He was going to auction her off like a prize heifer.

Raieyana kicked him, disregarding the fact that this man was already down. Reno watched in silent astonishment as she calmly put a bullet into Rude's shoulder. His eyes bulged as the blood gushed from the wound; Raieyana knew her major arteries. She had a major brainstorm. Picking up the half-full bottle of iodine that Rude had given her to bandage Reno, she cruelly poured it directly onto the raw flesh. She contemplated using her own mind-controlling powers to make Rude end it all himself, and then decided to let him bleed. She walked out of the cell, leaving a stunned Reno. "I hope you can help Tifa out of here," she said. Rude groaned.

There had never been a greater change in expression as the humanitarian Raieyana realized what the angry Raieyana had done. Knowing her damage was too great to repair, she shot Rude in the base of the skull, ending the suffering she had caused. For one painful moment she stared at the lifeless body. She threw the gun against the wall.

"And I thought I was strong," she whispered, "I thought I was different. Me, who had never, ever taken a human life. I was wrong!"

"You are human," said Reno, prepared to follow that up with a statement on making mistakes. He, after all, had taken more than one human life, not entirely without remorse, but he realized that the past was irrevocable.

"I thought I was human. But I am a monster."

"You are not a monster!"

Raieyana gestured to the pool of blood on the floor. "I made this," she cried, "I am no more human than you are a woman than Sephiroth was sane!"

He grabbed her and held her tightly. "What does that make me, Raieyana? I am far worse than you. If you are inhuman, if you are the monster, then I am the slime the monster treads underfoot. You got angry. Perhaps Rude's better off this way."

Raieyana broke away. "Tifa needs to be cured. We find our stuff upstairs, phone Cid, and get picked up and taken home. I want to see my kids... I want to..."

"See Reeve," said Reno bitterly.

"I said nothing about him," said Raieyana angrily.

"You don't need to say it out loud. I can just tell," retorted Reno, "you want to see Reeve. You had your fun with me, you're not guilty anymore. You're sick and tired of me and this whole hell-hole and you want to go home to your perfect white-bread existence and I don't blame you one bit. Hell, I'm probably the reason Rude's dead on the floor right now, not a few mutated cells floating around in your bloodstream."

"Do you want me to go?" she asked softly.

Tifa moaned. Reno avoided the subject. "We gotta get her some medical attention."

************

It was a pretty little living-room congregation. Cloud, Tifa, Vincent, Yuffie, Reno, Reeve, Raieyana, and Legolas. Legolas had come bearing news of the giant weapon terrorizing the eastern hemisphere. Barret, Cid, Red XIII, and himself had been battling it. He had come for help and found himself in the midst of Raieyana's disappearance. Lia was complacently at home in Undor-Hai, watching Marlene and Daniel. She had been knitting something that looked suspiciously like a pink baby blanket.

Tifa shook her head. "Rude was more dangerous than any of us ever knew."

"It was probably the Jenova," said Vincent. "You all know," he added casually, "that Raieyana isn't safe anymore and neither are the kids."

"What do you mean?" asked Reeve warily.

"Shelding wants her as a specimen, and the kids more likely than not, that's what he means," said Reno.

Reeve glared at Reno. Reno glared at Reeve. Raieyana glared at Cloud. Tifa glared at Cloud. Yuffie started folding origami butterflies.

Vincent cleared his throat. "I suggest we find places to hide them."

"Places? Plural?" questioned Reeve.

"In the slight possibility," Vincent said, "that the Shinra find one hiding spot, there remains another where one of them is hiding. You can't put all your eggs into one basket. I think the kids should go with Legolas to Undor-Hai and Raieyana..."

"Where's Raieyana gonna go? She's pregnant," said Reno.

"I will take her to Lucrecia. She is the only person on this Planet who has experienced anything similar to Raieyana. No one knows of the cave, and Raieyana will be safe there, I think."

"What if she gets sick?" asked Reeve.

"I'll leave a PHS there for her. We'll be able to get her out of there if need be."

"And if that's not a satisfactory answer?"

"Would you rather have her in a lab with Shelding? He'd probably make sure she didn't die," said Reno.

Reeve stood up, fists clenched. "You do understand this whole mess is your fault!"

"Silly me. I thought Cloud had something to do with it. And Hojo. But no, I see now, this is all my fault. I'm the bad guy."

"You're going to shut your mouth right now or else I'll..."

"No!" said Raieyana. "You're going to sit down and stop threatening people who are trying to help us. And Reno's going to stop mouthing off before somebody loses it and beats him."

"Why should you go and hide? We can take care of Shelding now. We can't let ourselves be afraid of Shinra."

She sighed. "Reeve, it's not that simple. And that Amber Weapon. Somebody has to kill it. If I go into hiding for a little while to save a few lives, I think it'll be worth it."

"You just got back."

"I know. This is more difficult for me than you realize. I'm not just being unreasonable."

"So now I'm unreasonable, Ray?"

"Don't you care a little bit about anyone but yourself? Don't you understand that we have to make a few sacrifices for the best outcome?"

"You're always making sacrifices."

"Reeve, everything I've ever done has included some sacrifice. Haven't you figured it out by now? I never get off easy."

Vincent stood up. "Unless there is a major amount of objection from someone, I'll take her to Lucrecia tomorrow."

************

Lucas Shelding checked on the new Soldiers. Soldiers was a loose term, anyway. The next generation of Sephiroths... (Unfortunately, I only have inferior specimen samples. Except for my one, prized...) The Soldiers would be ready for release tomorrow. (That's why the next experiment is so important. What use are Soldiers without a leader to guide them?) He walked into the next room.

(I shall go down forever in the history of Science. Not as first, but as second to only the great Hojo. Unless the experiment succeeds beyond my wildest dreams, in which case...) He uncovered the apparatus. He checked on the precious sample. The blood. The blood of Hojo. (...I will become Hojo, rise above faithful servitude. And these two great minds shall rule over the entire Planet. Jenova...Mako...Science...all that is power, I bow to you. I am forever indebted to you and remain now, as ever, at your mercy. You are my god, and I will ever praise you. I have sought you in daylight and in the shadows of night. I have followed the path you have made for me. You hath led me to the place I had only dreamed of, this moment of triumph. The only truth I follow, the only torch I need, guide me as I accomplish the hopes and dreams of every man who has ever dared to contemplate absolute knowledge and absolute power.

Omniscient, omnipotent, and ever-present, Hojo, let me see the world through your eyes. For though you have beckoned to me, I have yet to see the glory of the realm of your knowledge. Show me...Let me see. Know it at last...feel it at last... If there is any god I may pray to, let it hear that I give my soul unto you to know that which has been denied before to many. I feel it now...this is my time...)

Lucas Shelding strapped himself into his invention, praying to the false god of the world of technology. He had been a long-time admirer of Professor Hojo; in fact, his worship was far past the point of being sacrilegious...it was border-line delusional. When you think about it, sometimes the demented are less dangerous than the sane. That is, when you're talking about people who commit atrocities. Crazies never see beyond the edge of the horizon. Rational people can look ahead...therefore, if they are truly evil, they can see consequences and are harder to defeat by means of their own stupidity. Which brings a question to ponder: If Lucas Shelding is psychotic, and Hojo master of his own mind...doesn't that make Hojo a more dangerous foe? Isn't Shelding's plan more gruesome than at first glance? Did Hojo ever realize the implications of his actions? Did he know the inevitable end?

************

__

"Cell memory is a scientific theory suggesting that the cells of a living thing can remember and retain knowledge possessed by that living thing. According to this theory, a clone would possess the same knowledge as the original. The only question is how to awaken the stored memory..."

Hojo understood the essence of this theory, but never completely succeeded at restoring knowledge held in cell memory. Lucas Shelding read Hojo's reports on cell memory and the experiments on the Jenova clones. He soon became obsessed by it. Unlocking the mystery of cell memory is the key to true immortality. Grow a clone, have it ready to be "awakened" at the death of the old body. If only it were that simple...


	19. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

.

Raieyana stared out the bedroom window at the sunset. (It is not a question of fearing death. I have no fear. That is not the problem. The worry is, has always been, what will happen to my loved ones if I die... Aeris and Ishmael, Reeve...) She choked back the tears, but one slipped softly down her cheek and landed on the windowpane. (...Reno.)

************

Reeve stood on his back porch, looking at the sunset. He lit a cigarette. The door opened behind him. Cloud stepped out next to him. "Don't worry, Reeve. This is good for her. She'll be safe...and the baby..."

Reeve's eyes blazed. "Yeah, your baby!"

"I can't change the past. I wish it never happened, she wishes it never happend, and you wish it never happened--but it did, so now it's up to you to be a man and accept it."

"You don't understand, Cloud. Your actions are what're tearing me and Ray apart. I'm no use to her anymore. Hell, I don't do a damn thing for her, right? I kill her--you save her from the Turks...I try to build a life with her--Reno kidnaps her and somehow manages to kindle tender feelings..."

"Don't blame me for that."

"I was going to ask her to marry me."

"It's not like you still couldn't, Reeve."

"She doesn't want me anymore. I'm boring. Maybe it took seven years for her to realize that, but she finally did. Why did she wait so long?"

"Reeve..."

"I need her so much."

"...wait a minute and try to see..."

"Sometimes I wonder if I can go on..."

"Look!" Cloud startled Reeve out of his self-pity. "You do realize that if she didn't want you, Raieyana would have up and left. She's strong enough for that. You have to see she doesn't even know what she wants. And if you're willing to shove her away from you to quote-unquote 'make sure she doesn't get hurt,' she'll go. Because the only person's feelings that you care enough about to spare are your own. She can make it by herself. Besides, you said yourself she cares for Reno. She'll just go to him..."

"You'd shut up if you knew what was good for you, Cloud..."

"...maybe not because she loves him more, but because you drove her to him."

"I don't want to stand in the way of her happiness. If I coaxed her into staying against her will, we'd both be unhappy. If I let her go if she wanted to, at least one of us would be happy."

"She's unsure right now. She could love both of you. It's possible, that's for certain..." Cloud closed his eyes. "...I know personally what that's like."

"I can't stand staying in a love triangle until she decides."

"Then you're gonna lose her. She's spent so much of her life waiting for you. I don't think it's too much to ask for you to wait a little while. You'll be gambling, I know, but...you can't win anything unless you place a wager. If you walk away, they'll never call your ticket number. You could lose; but if you don't try, you'll never win."

"What if I don't think I can compete?"

Cloud shrugged. "That sounds like a personal problem."

************

Reno took a deep breath, and knocked on the door. He couldn't help staring at Raieyana as she opened the door; the way the light from the dusk caught her hair, glimmered in her eyes...

"What is it, Reno?"

He shook his head to clear his mind. "I want to talk to you. Can I come in?"

"Oh, of course. Who'd want to have a conversation in the hallway?"

He looked at her and smiled a little. "Reeve said I could go back to Alcor like nothing happened. Same position, same everything. Lavs even put in her two weeks' notice."

"Well..."  
He interrupted her. "I don't know if I'm gonna accept."

"What?"

He glanced around uneasily. "I know Reeve's being generous, but I also know that I don't deserve it. I was a traitor. I put Alcor in danger and I nearly got you locked up with a madman!"

"Reno, everyone makes mistakes. You even told me that."

"I think there's a limit to that, eventually. Besides, how could I stand... I can't work with Reeve if he's with you."

Raieyana grabbed him by the shoulder. "Why do you think..."

"Why shouldn't I think that? There are four bedrooms in this house. Your kids are in one, the Valentines in two. Does Reeve sleep on the couch?"

"It wasn't like it is now before I left. You were gone...I had to make a life with my kids."

"Do you think I'd believe you're willing to give it all up? You chose Reeve. I accept it; so should you."

Raieyana looked out the window. "Do you think I was lying back in Gongaga?"

"You were trying to make me feel better. You were trying to make yourself feel better. If it's just physical attraction between you and me, then stop trying to make it something more."

"Fine then, go. Isn't that what you want me to say?"

"What do you want to say?"

"Stay."

.

"Ray." Reeve stood emotionless in the doorway.

"Reno says you offerred him his job back," she said lightly. (I don't know how much he heard. It started as arguing over that, and the last few pieces sounded like a continuation of it, so...)

Reeve relaxed a little. "Oh." He glanced at Reno, and fingered the box in his pocket. (_"Make sure you two are alone--so no one else's presence would sway her decision either way."_

"If she loves me, she would say yes in front of everyone else in the world." And now I will see.) "Ray, I have something to ask you."

"What is it, Reeve?"

Reno watched him intently. He was hit with a sudden realization. (He can't...he's not...he wouldn't...not now...)

Reeve took Raieyana's hand and slowly got down on one knee. "I had a lot of nifty things to say, but they all mean the same thing... Ray, I love you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Those seven years were hell. Marry me."

She looked into his eyes. (Earnest.) "What?" she whispered. "What?" Raieyana suddenly felt sick. She shook her head and ran out of the room. She locked herself in the bathroom.

"Damn it. Damn it all to hell!" Reeve threw the box with the engagement ring against the wall. He glanced at Reno. "Guess you won, huh? How did you do it? What did you do that meant so much? Were you there for her when she had bad dreams? Were you there for her when the crater collapsed along with her dreams and her precious memories? When you were without her did you feel a raw ache slowly spread down your throat and into your chest and then linger? Maybe it was something I didn't do... Let's see...I didn't force her to come here with me. I didn't kidnap her for money. I didn't make rude comments the first time we met, but hey, isn't that what all women look for in a man?" He looked directly at Reno. "Even though you've got my one and only treasure, my hope, and all my dreams, I'd rather be me than you. Because you have to answer for it."

"I don't deserve it."

"Then why do you have it? I guess it's because my life has to be sheer pain from one moment to the next. How come the people I think are my best friends always end up destroying my little bit of happiness?" He grabbed a cigarette and stormed out of the room.

Reno was alone in the dark.

************

(Why couldn't I say yes? I wanted to say yes. Nothing ever turns out the way it's supposed to be. A person can't make themself do what they want to do. Mix in other people, and the world is just hell.)

Someone lightly tapped on the door. "Raieyana," said Vincent, "do you want to go now?"

She took a deep breath. "Yeah, sure. I said bye to the kids... Reeve's taking them to Lia, right?"

"I think Legolas has got that job."

"Are you going to go fight the Amber Weapon?"

"They need all the help that they can get."

"I wish I could help." Raieyana opened the door. "Just let me get my bag." She walked back into her room.

Reno jumped as the door opened.

"Reno, you're still here?"

He shrugged. "I was getting ready to leave."

She picked up her satchel. "What's this?" She bent down and picked up the ring box. "Oh..." She opened it. Inside was a thin, plain gold band. Reeve didn't buy it because he was cheap; he just thought if Raieyana wore anything else, it would clash with her simple style.

"You goin' now?"

She nodded. "I have to."

"I'm sorry."

"Reno," she said softly, "I'm the only one who has to be sorry for anything."

"I'm sorry that I love you when I can't be the right man for you. Marry Reeve. It's the best thing for you."

"Do you have anything else to say?"

He shook his head. (I wish I was a person who could marry someone like you. I wish I was good enough for you.)

Raieyana couldn't help herself. She had been prepared to leave without a word to anyone. Now, standing here with Reno, she couldn't bear to go. She hugged him.

He pulled her closer in and kissed her.

After a little while, she pulled away. "I have to go now. I..." (...love you.)

He caught her hand and looked into her eyes. "I know."

Raieyana picked up her bag and walked out the door. Vincent was waiting for her. "Come on," she said, "let's go."


	20. Part 7: Where the Wild Things Are (or W...

Chapter 19

.

"Goddamn!" Barret fell to the ground as a laser beam tore up the ground in front of him.

Red XIII sighed and cast the fifth Cure3 spell of the battle. (Once again, Cure3 for Barret. Why isn't he more careful? One of the many virtues of a good fighter is an awareness of one's surroundings. I couldn't say this to Barret's face, though. If only I hadn't lent my Enemy Skill materia to Legolas. Then I could just cast White Wind on Barret. It uses less MP, and would be of more help, considering I still haven't been injured.)

"Shit!"

Red XIII shook his head and cast Cure3.

Cid came running up. "I'm sorry I couldn't get here sooner, but I needed to go buy some more cigarettes." He raised his Sepulchre Lance and prepared for battle. "Ah...what the hell...Bahumet ZERO!" While the summoner occupied the Amber Weapon for awhile, Cid lit a cigarette. "So Red, why'd you name it the Amber Weapon?"

"Well, for one thing, it's yellow."

"So call it the Gold Weapon."

"All the other Weapons were named after precious gems, with the exception of the Ultima Weapon."

"So call it the Penultima Weapon. Or the Golden Topaz Weapon. Why 'amber?' What's so great about it? It's just another name for yellow. I thought you were smart, Red? Why amber?"

"Amber is rare. Amber is used in jewelry."

Barret looked at Red XIII. "But what the fuck is it?"

Red XIII sighed. "Fossilized tree sap."

Cid snickered. "You named the monster after tree sap? What's next, the Maple Syrup Weapon? The Sassafras Weapon? The Root Beer Weapon? The Cinnamon Weapon? The--"

The Amber Weapon landed, looked at Cid, and shrieked.

"--Oh shit! Red, help me!"

Red smirked. "But it's just fossilized tree sap. Can't you handle it?"

Cid glared at him. He jumped back and eyed the monster. He rammed his lance straight into its neck. He pushed the button and shot some poison into it. The Weapon reared and slapped Cid. He fell to the ground with a dull thud.

Red XIII threw some Dragon Scales at it. The Weapon screamed, took one last swipe at Barret, and flew away.

.

Cid jumped up, screaming. "You get back here, you good for nothin', motherfucking, sappy, fossilized piece of shit! I'll fix you good! Little Weapon can't take a little magic? Get back here so I can kick your ass!"

Barret groaned. "Can I get a little Cure over here?"

Red XIII sighed and cast Cure3. (How are we ever going to defeat this Weapon?) "How soon do you suppose Legolas will come back?"

Cid shrugged. "He left two days ago. Shouldn't take too long. After all, Junon's on the same continent as we are."

"Do you think he can get any help?"

"Dunno. But I don't think Reeve and Raieyana would leave us ailing over here. I s'pose Leg might have to go to Wutai if they can't. But Vincent would come. And he turns into vicious beasts."

"What about Yuffie?"

"Well if he came, I guess she would have to, too."

"She would be a great help."

"Sure. If you say so... Just too bad Ruther can't help. He could kick some major ass. And if Lia wasn't so damn..."

"Pregnant?" Red XIII smiled.

"Don't interrupt me... Paranoid, then she could help. But she's too afraid to let anyone else watch her kid. So she's no use."

"She's pregnant. She shouldn't fight."

"It's a nice excuse. But we're busting our asses off down here. We need some back-up."

************

The clinic in Mideel was slowly filling up with sick ex-Soldiers. They had high fevers, and all muttered in a sort of delirium. Elsie bent over Ruther.

"...see...light...I...see it... Hojo...is near... ...reunion...reunion... the sun... ...emerges...reunion..."

Suddenly she was aware of the patient on the cot next to Ruther's.

"...reunion..."

She didn't understand. But she finally noticed that every man in the clinic was now muttering the same words, over and over. She turned to leave. (I must tell the others about this. I wonder what it means. Reunion.)

************

The PHS rang. Lia got up. "Hello?"

_"It's Elsie. Something weird is going on here in Mideel."_

"You mean something weird wasn't already happening?"

_"Lia, you know how Ruther was kind of...saying things in his sleep? Well, the other Soldiers in there had been too, and now... They all are saying the same thing."_

"You're serious... What are they saying?"

Barret, Red XIII, and Cid walked into the room.

"So what? Reunion? That's a little strange, I guess."

Red XIII frowned. "Lia, who are you talking to?"

"Elsie."  
He reached out a hand...that is, paw. "May I speak with her?"

"Be my guest." She looked at Barret. "I still don't think it's that big of a deal. A bunch of sick guys have been together so long they mutter the same thing. It doesn't sound too odd."

"Alright, Elsie. Call back if the situation changes. Good-bye." Red XIII set down the PHS. "That was Elsie."

"No shit, Einstein," said Cid.

Red XIII ignored him and continued. "All of the patients--Ruther included--at the clinic there suddenly all have been talking about a 'reunion.' She also said she heard Ruther mention Hojo. I don't know exactly what this means, but it can't mean anything good."

Barret patted his gun-arm. "I say go storm the Shinra right now. They have something to do with this."

"I agree, they must have something to do with it. But until we figure out exactly what..." Red XIII shook his head. "...it would be best for us to remain here, at least until Legolas returns. We have to keep that Weapon in check, and frankly, I don't think we can handle any other problems at this moment."

************

Laida glanced around her office, then locked the door. She picked up the phone. "Martin? Make sure I am not bothered for a couple of hours, okay? Can you handle it? Yeah, thanks." She opened the bottom drawer of her desk. She reached under the bottom of it and pressed a button. The back of the drawer slid down to reveal a hidden space. She removed the box from it and shut the drawer.

(I can't wait any longer. Lucas has some plan of his own, I know it. Now is the time. I can't trust anyone any longer.) She opened the box and removed an object wrapped in a piece of black fabric. Unwrapping it, she let the cloth fall to the floor. (Sephiroth's medallion. All I need is an object belonging to a person to contact that person--if the spirit hasn't already been assimilated into the Lifestream.)

Laida concentrated very hard. A yellow orb on her desk started to glow. Channel Consciousness--enables any non-Cetra to establish contact with a soul that has returned to the Planet.

She looked down. Her hands felt warm. The medallion was radiating heat of its own. She studied it carefully. (This isn't any ordinary medallion...

_"Reunion..."_)

__

She shook her head. (Get yourself together.

_"...so long in the darkness have I watched. Waiting? How long have I waited? Five, six, seven years. All for her. To see her again."_

He has no power over me. Laida, girl, get a grip!

_"Can I see her? Can I tell her? What I can't forgive, what I can't forget? Will she pay for it? Will she feel pain?"_

Shut up! I called you, not vice versa! Stop trying to control me.) Laida toppled over to the floor with a crash. Blood trickled from the corner of her mouth. She began to speak with a voice that seemed to come from far away.

"It's time. The reunion. The sun reemerges. Drawn to the beacon, she comes. Raieyana." Then everything was black, and Laida knew no more.


	21. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

.

Lia looked up as she put down the PHS. "That was Legolas. He's coming back with Ishmael and Aeris."

"What the--" Barret looked at her. "I thought he was going for help, not more baby-sitting charges!"

"All the others will be coming. Except Reeve and Reno, they're needed in Junon. And Raieyana."

"What about Raieyana?" asked Cid.

Lia looked down. "I guess someone from Shinra tried to kidnap her. Vincent's hiding her with Lucrecia until we can solve that problem."

"Those damn Shinra," muttered Barret.

"Wait a minute," said Red XIII, "isn't Reno with the Turks?"

"I don't know, we'll have to ask Vincent or someone to explain it. It's not like Legolas tried to or anything."

"Hey Lia," said Cid, "isn't Cloud off somewhere acting loony or somethin'? Is he coming, too?"

She shrugged. "Yeah, but I don't know whether or not he still isn't loony. We'll just have to wait until they come."

Red XIII looked at her. "When are they coming, Lia?"

"Tomorrow morning."

************

Vincent looked around the room. (We're together, but missing so much. Ruther, Reeve, Raieyana.) "She's in Lucrecia's cave. Raieyana has a PHS. Someone has to stay here on call 24-7 so she can get a hold of us. If she gets sick, we're her only hope. The rest of us need to try and destroy this Amber Weapon."

"What can we do? We just gotta fight the damn mother," said Cid.

"There's more at stake here. What about the Reunion?" asked Cloud.

"Didn't that happen already? I mean, I'm not the most observant person in the world," said Yuffie, "but I definitely remember some little get-together Hojo called the 'Jenova Reunion.' What do we have to fear about this thing of the past?"

Tifa shook her head. "Something must have happened to trigger all this 'reunion' talk again. Something triggered another Reunion."

Barret leaped to his feet. "Y'all know it was the fucking Shinra. I say we bomb Edinborough tonight! You'd be a foo' not to!"

"No," said Legolas, "we have to be discreet. If we move too fast, we won't know what they did. And then we'll be powerless to stop it."

"I agree," said Vincent, "we can't move in haste. Our anger will cause us to be reckless. We must wait for a sign, perhaps wait even for the Reunion itself. Or wait until the sick Soldiers move."

"What?" said Tifa.

"When the time comes, they will head for the Reunion, just like the Sephiroth clones. Maybe even some of us will have the urge."

"Don't worry about it," said Cloud, "I'm stronger this time."

"I'm not just worried about you, Cloud," said Vincent, "if this affects the Soldiers, there are few of us that it doesn't affect. This is going to be bigger than the first Reunion."

.

"And," said Red XIII, speaking for the first time, "I think it has a clearer purpose. The first Reunion gathered to set Sephiroth's plans in motion. His decisions were marred by the deception of Jenova. This Reunion is for Jenova's purpose. It affects the Soldiers because this time, the summoning isn't being done by Sephiroth. It's being done by Jenova."

"What's the purpose, then?" asked Lia.

"I'm not certain. But I've read some books that were left behind by Professor Gast when he came to Cosmo Canyon. I've learned a few more things from Ancient legend. I've been trying to piece them together."

"So what's the puzzle look like now?" said Tifa.

Red XIII sighed. "It's complicated. Jenova fell from the sky. She was an alien and carried alien microbes with her. The Ancients had a nomadic lifestyle, and on the average, were rather weak. They easily succumbed to the foreign diseases. They had not developed antibodies to a disease from another planet. Your race, modern man, along with a few Cetra exiles, hid from Jenova. Jenova was enraged at having become an outcast so she lashed out and killed any Cetra she could find. The very few Cetra that were left succeeded in burying her in an avalanche and thought their problem solved. That was 5000 years ago. The Ancients slowly died out until Ifalna was the only one left."

Vincent shrugged. "Although this is interesting, it hardly explains why--"

"Vincent, I'm not finished."

He sighed. "Continue, Red."

"Gast thought Jenova was an Ancient at first, and so eventually it was Sephiroth who believed that he himself was an Ancient. He hated the new race. Your race."

"But he killed Aeris," said Cloud softly.

"She had rekindled the old grudge. In a way, Jenova didn't care who she killed. I suppose being frozen for 5000 years could do that to you. Jenova has to be the link. Many things, from Turks to mutant wolves have tried to attack Raieyana--Aeris' daughter. The one thing they have in common--enhancement with both Mako and Jenova. I believe Mako enhances Jenova cell multiplication. Each subsequent showering leads to the growth of Jenova's hold on a person--or a monster, as the case may be. If there is another Jenova Reunion, Raieyana--and her children--probably have little chance of survival."

.

"Shit," said Barret, "this is worse than reactors. Shinra had no idea what the hell they were doing."

"They should've stuck to terrorism and burning down cities," said Yuffie.

"But, they unwittingly hit something," said Red XIII. "The Jenova/Mako combination is like an intensely risky live inoculation."

Cid gave him a strange look. "Say what?"

"This treatment is a vaccine against weakness with heinous side effects."  
Barret snorted. "Heinous? Man, you livin' in the past!"

Red XIII ignored him. "The Jenova can cause physical and mental breakdown. But the individuals that withstand it have phenomenal strength--even if they end up slightly crazy. You could say that it is the ultimate price for the knowledge of strength. The Jenova gives the power and it can take it away. Fight it, and you could lose everything. If you don't, it will kill you eventually anyway."

************

"Reno, welcome back!"

Reno smiled and nodded at the small group of people who had gathered around the door for his arrival back at Alcor. "Hey, is this a company or the 'Welcome Wagon?' Get your asses in gear, folks, if you want to be better than the Shinra!" He glanced at Reeve. "Man, you let everything go to hell while I was gone, didn't you, buddy?"

Reeve glared at him. "As a matter of fact, for once I was able to get some work done. Except for the period of time Ray was missing, but I can hardly be blamed for that."

"So, where's my office?"

"You don't have one."

He raised an eyebrow. "What the hell? You said--"

Reeve grinned. "Next week main operations are moving back to the old building. Your office has been remodeled. No signs of the fire whatsoever. But you don't have an office here, so deal."

"For a second I thought Reeve Jordan was actually holding a grudge against somebody."

He shook his head. "Only two people on this planet do I hold a grudge against. One is Cloud Strife. The other..."

.

Lavana stepped in their path. "I see the company asshole has dragged his sorry butt back."

Reno nodded. "And I see the company whore has not gone out of business."

"You're wrong. I guess you haven't heard. I'm leaving. I have bigger and better things to be doing."

"What, you've exhausted the supply of horny men in this company? I must have missed the going-out-of-business sale!"

She snickered. "There is no amount you could pay me to make me fuck you!"

"Shut up Lavs. You'd do the dog in the alley if you thought I'd pay you a nickel."

"Jack, I really wished you hadn't told me that. Now you've messed up my innocent little mind by telling me what turns you on."

"That's one point I agree with you on. Your mind sure is little."

She shook her head and turned to Reeve. "Only three more days... If you don't hurry up, you'll miss your chance, Reeve. You name the time, the place--I'll be there." She leaned into his ear and whispered loudly, "I'd get on all fours for you, Reeve." She sauntered away, with a self-satisfied smirk.

.

"She definitely makes me want to get on all fours," said Reno, "so I can say hello to the toilet bowl without getting anything on my favorite tie!"

"She has completely overstepped her boundaries with that one."

"She's not even that attractive. She has little going for her. She's easy. That's it. Her breasts aren't even that big. Compared to--"

Reeve bristled. "Compared to who?"

"Anyone."

"Just say it."

"What do you think I was gonna say?" Reno asked.

"Just...it's nothing."

"Reeve, you can't let it get to you."

"I'm sorry, I can't help it. Maybe it's easier for you because you don't give a damn."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean? I'm not sitting here saying shit like that about you."

Reeve looked him in the eye. "Stop pretending that you care about her."

"If this is pretend, I hope I never feel the real thing."

"It's not all it's cracked up to be."

"Look, Reeve, this whole mess started out and I thought it was a one-way street. I decided then that I was going to have to learn how to accept it. Well, you've gotta accept it, okay? I'm in love with her."

"So am I, Reno."

"I know that. But she didn't make me love her, and I didn't make me love her. There isn't anything to place the blame on. So the only thing you can do is accept it. Or let it eat you alive."

"Damn it, Reno. I want to be mad at you. I have to have anger at something, but I come up blank. It feels like I'm betraying myself not to throttle you right now."

"It wouldn't solve anything."

"Well, does it look like I'm throttling you? I know that's not the answer."

"So what is the answer?"

Reeve smiled sadly. "'E'...None of these."

************

Laida grabbed the bottle of aspirin from her desk drawer. She lifted her coffee cup and swallowed five at once. She touched her swollen lip. (I don't remember exactly what happened the other day, but I find it a little frightening. I wish I could talk to Lucas about this, but he's been acting so damn strange lately...)

The speaker phone on here desk rang. She pushed a button.

_"Laida, it's Martin."_

"What is it?"

_"Elena Roberts is here to see you. You didn't tell me she had an appointment..."_

"I called her yesterday and told her to come. Send her right on in."

_"Okay, Laida."_

.

She stretched her arms above her head and rolled her head around her shoulders. (I'm just so sore. What the hell happened to me?)

Elena walked into Laida's office. "You wanted to see me?"

"That's right." She motioned to a chair. "Sit down."

"Well, what is it?"

Laida sighed. "Since Dr. Shelding hired the Turks for Shinra, I feel it's my duty to inform you about your associate, Rude. His body was found in Gongaga. To be exact, in the basement of a house he owned. There was a sort-of holding-cell there. I was deeply saddened when I read it in the newspaper. Here's the article." She handed a newprint clipping to Elena.

She examined it closely. "Why, this is from several days ago!"

"Well, we sent Shinra investigators into the area immediately. This is probably the only copy of the article that wasn't destroyed. Bad press must be eliminated, you know. And our team there found out some intriguing information on the crime scene." She pulled out a report. "'The victim bled profusely from a gunshot wound in the shoulder before he was instantly killed with a bullet to the back of the head. The gun was found at the crime scene; it was registered to Rude.' See, Elena, there's weird stuff all around this case. He had a broken nose, and it seems someone had emptied a whole bottle of iodine--you know, disinfectant--onto his shoulder wound. Our workers checked the bottle for fingerprints. And so now we know, whatever happened there, Raieyana Amine was there and she got away."

"She couldn't have fought Rude off by herself," said Elena. "And what about Reno?"

"They found some of Reno's blood inside the holding cell. There was also some blood from a fourth, still yet unidentified person."

"You know our payment for getting the Amine girl was quite a hefty sum of money. If Reno had wanted the money for himself, they wouldn't have ended up at Rude's house. The Reno I know would have killed him in the copter as soon as they were alone."

Laida shrugged. "I just wanted to let you know that it's in your best financial interest to find out what went on there."

"What is wrong with you?" asked Elena. "Three of my colleagues died and one disappeared on that mission. I don't want anything to do with it anymore. Don't you realize that I may be the last living Turk?"

"So?"

"So I plan to keep it that way. I quit this mission, I quit Shinra, have a nice life. Because of this company, a hell of a lot of good people have died. I am through with you." She stood up.

"Elena, where are you going to go?" asked Laida in a patronizing tone.

"I'm going to find Reno. And Raieyana Amine."

"Raieyana? I thought you were done with us."

"I'm going to find her to protect her from you. Shinra destroyed Tseng, and I'm not going to let them have his daughter as well. I can't believe I was too stupid before to see what I was doing." She flung the door open. "The Turks are now officially separate from Shinra."

"The Turks are nothing without Shinra."

"You've gotten mixed up, Laida," said Elena, "Shinra is nothing without the Turks."


	22. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

.

"If you weren't so trustworthy, Red, I'd swear that this whole 'Amber Weapon' thing was a figment of an overactive imagination," said Tifa.

"Look over there and see where it tore up the ground," said Barret, "it's real, all right."

"I wish it was a figment of my imagination. It would be one less thing to worry about." Red XIII sighed. "And we haven't seen the blasted thing in days."

Tifa smiled. "Don't let the third watch get you down."

"Midnight to 8 A.M. would get anyone down. Even though I'll live a lot longer than you, I hate to feel that any part of my life is a waste. I think it is a waste to wait for the Amber Weapon here. It's just simply moved on. And with all of us here, it's roaming unhindered..."

"What the hell are we supposed to do about it?" asked Barret. "It's not like we know where it is or anything."

"Maybe we should send someone to Kalm and see if there's been any news," said Tifa, "maybe see if we can catch a clue in the newspaper."

"No, if it's in the papers at Kalm, Junon would have heard about it by now. And if Junon's heard, Reeve would've called." Red XIII laid down in the grass. "The Weapon is biding its time while we wait. And the longer we wait, the closer it comes to being time for the Reunion. The Reunion can't wait forever."

Tifa sat down next to him. "Neither can we."

************

Dr. Shelding walked up and down the rows of his laboratory. One by one, he checked the pods in which his Soldiers had been developing in. He grimaced and turned one off, then he finished his check. (Of two-hundred and fifty, only one failure. That may be a better success rate then you, Hojo. But then, without you, Hojo, I would be nothing. This is only the products of your labors; the inevitable result you would have come to, if only you had not been taken away so long before your time...)

He walked over to his computer and began the final check. Finally, the time had come. The time that had been nearly five years in the making. The next generation of Soldier, far superior to the first, more powerful than their predecessors. (My Gens will do the hard work. The time is so close.)

"Lucas?"

He looked up from the moniter. "Yes, Laida?"

"The Turks quit."

He smiled. "It doesn't matter. The Gens will get her for me. Unfortunately, I fear the Turks would have been a little more gentle with her."

"Then, you're releasing them?"

"I just have to start the program to awaken them."

Laida frowned. "I still don't get it. What are you 'awakening?'"

"I've spliced parts of their DNA with that of Sephiroth's," said Lucas, "and by using a combination of Jenova and Mako energy, and some additional nucleic acids, I can awaken the memories of Sephiroth inside each and every one of them. It's more than cloning, for each Gen will have a distinct and separate personality from the other. But they will all have part of Sephiroth inside of them."

"What about the other Soldiers we still have in service?"

He shrugged. "Severence pay, maybe a small pension. Laida, this is the future. Didn't I promise you that we'd never have anything obsolete? If I could do this with some orphaned children nobody wanted, imagine what I could do if we...our child?"

"I will never have a child so you can experiment on it. You'll have to be satisfied with that Ancient when you get your hands on her. Besides, you're so brilliant, any offspring of yours couldn't be improved on."

He scrutinized the screen, typing in several passwords. "Maybe my precautions are a little excessive, but this is years of work. It shouldn't have been able to be destroyed with the click of a button. So here we are. With this, Shinra once more controls the planet."

.

The lights in the lab dimmed. The pods each had a low buzzing sound. Then suddenly, each one beeped. Lucas walked over to a panel on the wall. He gestured to a lever marked "Release All Pods." "Laida, would you have the honor?"

She smiled. "It would be a pleasure."

One by one, each pod cover blasted open. From each pod, a Gen stepped out. On the average, one was five feet eleven inches tall, and they were all muscular, mostly around 195 pounds. Each had the glow of Mako in their eyes. Finally, every Soldier had exited their pod.

Lucas smiled at them. "I know you all must feel like you've just been born, but I have job for most of you. I need you to go to Rocket Town. All of you except...you five. You come with me. Laida can explain the mission to the rest of you, right?"

She nodded.

He glanced at the five Gens. They were staring at him intensely. Lucas chuckled. "You guys should thank me. You have the easy job. I need you to find a girl for me."

"Why?" asked one of them.

"I need her. And don't worry, you'll find the job very rewarding," he said emphatically. "You can do whatever you want with her as long she comes here alive and fairly healthy."

"Anything?" asked another.

"Find her, that's all. I have a picture and some info to show you. Follow me. I think you'll appreciate the job more once you've seen her."

************

Reeve turned on the television, bored out of his mind. (Ah, the news. Bound to hear something cheerful here.) He opened a beer and took a sip. He was flipping through the TV Guide when he heard something interesting come on.

_"It seems that these warriors are next-generation Soldiers sent by Shinra to reclaim the Highwind Airship. Most all of Rocket Town has given up, with a few rebels still holding on to the struggle."_

The camera closed in on a shot of a woman with a rifle. Reeve studied the face. (Shera. Cid's gonna flip.) All of a sudden the view was obstructed by the smoke and debris of an explosion.

_"In other news, a large monster similar to the Junon Weapon has been terrorizing Costa Del Sol ever since about dusk last night. With the Shinra forces in Rocket Town, things are beginning to look hopeless for that resort town."_

Reeve took a deep breath. (Okay, I have to call everyone and tell them what's up. I have to stay here, so I can't do much...)

_"We're going to leave you today with a shot of Fred, the water-skiing moogle."_

He shook his head. "After all that, they end with a fucking moogle?" he muttered. "The media really must be the spawn of Satan." He pulled out the PHS. "Hello? Red?"

************

Red XIII nodded. "You're right, Reeve. We have to do something. But just what that something should be is escaping me at this particular moment."

_"You'll have to split up. Cid will have to go to Rocket Town, we both know that and we need somebody at Costa Del Sol. It's a resort town. It could not hold up at all under an attack by that Weapon, or any Weapon for that matter. And really, we wouldn't just be being nice...we have real estate there, remember?"_

"Perhaps we could lure the Amber Weapon away... I'll call back once we've decided what to do. Good-bye, Reeve. And thank you." Red XIII turned to the group that had formed around him. "That was Reeve."

Barret groaned. "No shit, Ein--"

Tifa placed her hand over Barret's mouth. "Please Red, continue."

Red XIII gave her a small smile. "We have some serious problems. Problem #1: It seems Shelding has released his new Soldiers into the wild, per se. He's sent them to Rocket Town."

"Rocket Town?! You sure?" Cid looked worried. "But Sher--I mean, the Highwind's there all alone! The whole place is unprotected!"

Red XIII nodded. "Reeve said that he saw on the news a few of the residents making a last stand against the...the...Gens, I think they're called. Shera was one of them."

"Last stand?" whispered Cid.

Vincent put a hand on his shoulder.

"If those motherfucking Gens think that they're gonna lay on fucking hand on Shera, they've got another thing coming." Cid jumped up into his battle stance. He glanced around. "And they ain't gonna so much as touch that goddamn Airship, else I'll chop off their goddamn heads!" He swung his lance around. "Any questions?"

.

"Problem #2," said Red XIII, "the Amber Weapon has made its cheerful path of destruction and it leads to Costa Del Sol. So we need to go in two groups, one to fight the Gens, and one to fight the Weapon."

Barret glanced at Cid. "I'll go to Rocket Town. I'm sick of that damn Weapon."

Cloud shrugged. "I'll go with Cid."

Legolas began to open his mouth. "I guess I'll go too," said Tifa quickly. Legolas shut his mouth.

"The rest of us should go to Costa Del Sol, then," said Red XIII.

"Call Reeve back so he can keep us posted," said Yuffie.


	23. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

.

Elena glanced around the outside of the Alcor building. (It doesn't seem like much security. After Reno, after the fire, after everything, does Reeve still have this much faith in people?) Then she noticed one of the cameras was following her movement. (It must be an infra-red or a motion dectector camera. It knows I'm a living thing that needs to be tracked, that's for sure.) She walked into the building.

A security guard peered at her from his post. "What're you doing here?"

"Ummm..." Elena stammered. "I'm, I'm dropping off a few things for Lavana," she said quickly.

A crooked smile played across the guard's face. "You a friend of Lavs'?"

Elena gave him a sly look. "That's right."

The guard's smile went down a little. "Any friend of Lavana's is welcome everywhere here, if you get my drift. It's just too bad today's her last day..."

"Well, thank you very much, Mr., Mr..."

"Just call me Louis." He licked his lips. "I'm awfully sad Lavs is leaving. Say, maybe you could make it up to me..."

Elena raised an eyebrow. "Louis, I'll take a rain check. This is important business."

He reached out and caressed her inner thigh. "You know where to find me..."

Elena turned and power-walked to the elevator. She tried to will away the feeling of nausea that had come over her. She pushed the button for the top floor. (What did Lavana do for that security guard? Wait, I don't even want to know...)

.

Elena stepped out of the elevator and glanced around the floor. She spotted Reeve's office and walked straight towards it. She took a deep breath and knocked on the door. She heard a loud exclamation of "damn, I need a secretary" from the inside, and she crossed her fingers that Reeve wouldn't pull out a gun and kill her when he saw her.

"What is it, I'm busy... Elena, what the hell are you doing here?" Reeve glared at her. "You should know that it would be a stupid idea for you to come here."

She glanced around. "I know," she whispered, "you're right. But I have to talk to you. I needed to so bad that I risked everything by coming here. Now please, doesn't that get me a few seconds with you privately in your office, at the least?"  
Reeve glared at her. "I've already given you more than you deserve. But unlike most people, I have a little compassion. Step inside, for this brief moment you requested."

Elena followed him inside, silently. He closed the door behind her. She swallowed. "Please, Reeve...I need your help. Reno's gone, he may be dead. I know he must not be your favorite person in the world right now, but he's all I have left. You must know where he is. I know Raieyana got away, so they must be together, somewhere. Do you know, Reeve? Please tell me where Reno is." A tear slipped down her cheek. "Everything else is gone. All my illusions I had, of what it takes to make it in this world, and of power and of morals, what's right and what's wrong, they've vanished. I learned about the real world and I have nothing to replace my dreams with. Not even nightmares."

Reeve suppressed a smile. "Look, first things first, congratulations for quitting the Shinra."

Elena looked at him. "How'd you kn--"

"Second, if you want to see Reno, you should check his office. I don't think he's left for lunch yet."

"I'm confused, how did you know I quit--"

Reeve smiled. "That's almost the same paragraph Reno gave me word for word, when he quit. And I thought a few of the same things myself. Ex-Shinra are all in the same boat, I guess."

"Reno was in his office and you let me go through that whole speech?"

"Just because I let you in the office doesn't automatically make us friends, Elena. Besides, I was finding this whole situation mildly entertaining."

She threw her hands up in the air. "What, do you think I'm some kind of show to watch?"

"Just go talk to Reno, or he may leave for lunch."

.

Reno opened his office door and found the last person he expected--Elena. "Elena? How've you been?" he asked politely.

"Reno, you can let down your guard. I'm here for me...I mean, I quit Shinra. Quit the job."

Reno raised an eyebrow. "Well, Elena--"

"Reno," she interrupted, "I thought you were dead. I came here as a last resort."

"Elena, do you think I'd die so easy?"

"Laida said they found your blood all over the cell."

"Laida," he said firmly, "is full of shit. I bled a little, but it wasn't all over. Raieyana cleaned me up really well."

"Raieyana..."

"Raieyana saved my life."

"I owe her an apology. For everything," said Elena. "Reno, can we go inside and really talk?"

He shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

.

Elena glanced at Reno, who was standing in his "give me the assignment, chief" stance. (He'll always be a Turk, even if he quit. He'll always be a Turk, even though the Turks are dead.)

"What do you want Elena?"

"I want to know... Why'd you come back, Reno? To the Turks? The only good thing about the Turks died when Tseng died."

"But the Turks completely died when Rude pulled a gun on me."

"What happened back there?"

"Shit happened, Elena. What else do you want me to say?"

"Reno, I don't need you telling me that."

"Elena, you held on to the dying gasp of the Turks and I moved on."

"Then really Reno, why the hell did you come back?"

"What else could I do? I thought I couldn't make her love me."

"Who?"

Reno sighed. "It doesn't matter, I've made things worse."

Elena looked at him. "How?"

"I made her love me."

************

Cid steered the now-functional Tiny Bronco into a soft landing in the fields outside Rocket Town. Even from ten miles away, he could see that the flames flared higher than the height of the old Shinra #26. (Shera's in that fucking inferno. She could be dead by now. It's been all this time, and she'll still never know what I think. Everything I'd been too damn chicken shit to say. All the apologies I should've said, all the things I could've done to help her out. I never told her "thank you" for saving my life. I never told her that I--)

"Cid?" Barret interrupted his thoughts. "Are we gonna stand here in horror, or are we gonna go and kick some goddamn Shinra ass?"

Cid squinted at the blaze. "Do you even think there could be anything left?"

"I don't know," said Tifa, "but Cloud and I both survived the Nibelheim fire. Shera's tough, she's not going to go very easily..."

Cid took a drag of his cigarette. "What the hell are you talking about? I meant the Airship. And as for Shera, don't worry, I don't think for a minute I could get rid of her stupid ass so easily."

"Why don't we just go," said Cloud, "or everything will be gone by the time we get there."

.

(I don't understand what the problem is. I don't even see that many Gens.) Tifa looked around, with an uppercut to a Gen here, a kick to another one there... (The four of us will take them out in a matter of minutes.) She saw Barret spraying five Gens with bullets, and Cid skewering three more to her right. Cloud was sliding his sword through Gens like a warm knife through butter.

Cloud removed his sword and glanced around. "Are there any more?"

Barret glanced over at the airport, his eyes widening. "There's about fifty of them attacking the hangar over there. That must be where--"

"Shera is!" Cid glanced around. "Well, she must be trying to protect the Airship. C'mon, get your asses in gear. We gotta go save the Airship before those Gens get their grubby paws on it!" He ran off towards the Airport.

"Ummm, Cid..." Tifa shook her head. "They'll kill him. Four versus fifty is impossible. And since he didn't wait for us, it's one against..." She stopped short when she heard Cid's yell.

.

"KNIGHTS OF THE ROUND!!" Cid was now essentially invisible in the cloud of colors that enveloped him and the army of Gens.

Tifa closed her eyes. "I hope that works."

About half of the Gens fell to their knees or the ground, critically wounded. The rest began to laugh, and Cid found that rather unnerving.

"What's he doing now?" asked Barret.

Cloud raised an eyebrow. "It looks like he's doing all of his Limit Breaks."

"All of them?" asked Tifa incredulously. "Is that possible?"

He shrugged. "Now he's doing them all over again. I think it's quite possible he'll keep going like that until either all the Gens are dead or he sees Shera is all right."

"Shera? He doesn't give a damn..." began Barret.

"It has to be Shera," said Cloud, "because I've never seen him quite this mad about anything before. Not even tea."

************

Yuffie shielded her eyes from the hot, midday sun. (Why in hell's name would a metallic Weapon come here? I'm gonna get a sunburn.) She glanced at Vincent. (Oh dear, if he doesn't have any sunblock, I'm going to hear some whining from him tonight.) She heard a loud bang.

A group of tourists ran screaming from Costa Del Sol. "Well, I guess the Junon News was right for once," said Legolas, "I'll bet those people are absolutely terrified of our Amber Weapon."

Vincent shook his head. "Don't say 'our Amber Weapon' like it's our fault it's here. We can blame the Planet. How is it, Red, that these supposed 'guardians' of the Planet end up going on rampages of destruction, with little heed to what they're actually destroying? You'd think something as omnipotent as the Planet could give its protectors brains larger than walnuts."

"You've forgotten," said Red XIII, "that we are the enemy."

"For christsakes, Red, the thing could at least go destroy Edinborough first. The thing is so stupid. And that's why we were able to kill the other ones. But this one's tougher."

"We can do it," said Yuffie, "we have to. Because we're good enough, and we're smart enough, and, doggone it, one-eighth of that villa's mine!"

Legolas smiled. "Well then, kids, what are we waiting for? Let's go!"

.

Vincent looked up at the Amber Weapon and sighed. (We've fought it so long. This time, we have to go all out.) He closed his eyes.

Yuffie turned around. "Oh, Vince, no..."

"What else can I do?"

She shook her head. "At least give me your materia so I can use it while you're Chaos."

"Fair enough." He handed it over. (Focus now. All my concentration. Chaos...)

Legolas aimed at the Weapon and shot his cross-bow. It was a direct hit, and the Weapon was now preoccupied with removing the arrow.

Red XIII arched his back, and cast Flare. The Weapon snarled in retaliation and swiped at him.

Yuffie winced as Red XIII fell and decided to do something big. She stared at the pile of materia she had laid at her feet. (What the heck did Vince have in there, anyway?) She picked up a red summoner. (This better be good...) She stuck it in her weapon, and it began to glow. "NEO BAHUMET!!" The Weapon and the chunk of earth beneath it slowly ascended higher in the sky. "God, Vince," she muttered, "did we end up with all the sucky materia?"

All of a sudden there was a crash and pieces of earth flew all around. Legolas squinted at the spot as the dust cleared. "The Weapon's gone."

Vincent resumed his normal form. "What do you mean...damn it, the Weapon is gone."

They heard a distant roar. "Running away?" suggested Red XIII.

Yuffie shook her head. "No." She pointed. "I can still see it. It looks like it's stuck."

"I don't believe it," said Legolas, "the Amber Weapon is caught in the frickin' jet stream. And we all know what that means."

"Let's pretend we don't," said Yuffie, "and you tell us what that means."

"We can't attack it from here."

"So?"

"We need the Airship."

"So we go to Rocket Town," said Vincent.

"So we have no way of getting there. How'd we get here?" Red XIII sighed. "We'll just have to wait until Cid and the others finish. We have nothing, no buggy, no chocobos, no helicopters, no anything. We could walk to Corel, but that does us no good."

Yuffie shrugged. "There are worse places to be stranded."

************

Cid crawled through the hangar on his hands and knees. The smoke inside was so bad he knew he couldn't stay inside much longer. (But if I leave, Shera may...) He coughed hard. (Damn it, why the hell do I have to smoke so much! This would be hard enough with healthy lungs.) Then he saw a slender form down the corridor, coughing hoarsely. "Shera!" he called.

"Cid?" Her voice was weak, and he could see she was slightly convulsing.

"Shera, I'm comin'!"

When he reached her, she looked up at him. "I...I... They didn't get far enough..." She coughed. "...the...the Highwind's still there..." She smiled weakly. "...I knew how pissed off you would be...if I let them take it. Did you kill them all?"

"All I could see. I was so damn pissed."

"Nobody could ever mess with the Captain's Airship."

Cid looked into her eyes. (She did this all...for me. I don't even deserve...) "Umm...well, what the hell are we doing here? Let's go get that damn Airship before we die of smoke inhalation!"

************

_"We can't go nowhere, Reeve. Those Gens are in gelnikas, helicopters, you name it. We gotta lay low and then go after that Weapon. I mean, I'm sure that Yuffie, Vincent, Red, and Legolas are even sick of paradise after what, two-and-a-half months?"_

"So you're all stuck?"

__

"Basically, yes. Well, Cloud wanted to go to Mt. Nibel and we let him. We're basically in that range of mountains, anyway. We look for a clear spot, and then go to Del Sol and blow that fucking Weapon so hard the crater he makes won't know what hit it. Then we find Shelding."

"I'm coming when that time comes. I gotta get my hands on that Shelding, I..."

_"Don't mean to cut you off, man, but this connection probably isn't the safest. Don't want to leave it open too long..."_

"No problem. I wasn't thinking. Just play it safe. Bide your time. We need you to do this, so don't rush. I'll talk to you later, Cid." Reeve put down the PHSand looked at Reno and Elena. "That was Cid."

Reno raised an eyebrow. "No shit, Sherlock. God, those Gens have all this info on Raieyana."

"I wonder who gave it to Shelding?" Reeve muttered.

"Not me," protested Reno, "I've been saying it for months, there's gotta be a spy here."

"But who? I trust everybody."

"Lavana was the spy," said Elena. "You trusted her? How could you be so blind?"

Reeve shrugged. "I thought she must have been trustworthy because she quit the Shinra."

"It was all an act, Reeve, a sham. I know, I was there. She was affiliated with Shinra still the whole time. I suppose you're right in a way, though, Reeve. It seems that you can trust anyone who realized their stupidity and quit Shinra for real. We were all deceived."

"However, a few of the best," said Reno, "died as Shinra."

Elena sighed. "Tseng and Gast never escaped...they should have, though. They deserved it, more than anybody. They were better than the Shinra."

"We were all misled too far to back out," Reno mused. "Too far to leave."

Reeve fidgeted, and stood up. He looked out the window. "With Shinra, it's back out or check out."

"Poor Tseng," said Elena.

"He couldn't take the chance," said Reno, "I know that now. He had more than himself on the line. He did everything for her."

Reeve nodded in agreement. "And she has never forgotten." (Raieyana.)


	24. Part 8: Countdown to Eternity (or Solac...

Chapter 23: Raieyana

.

_Lucrecia is my paternal grandmother, yet I see little or no similarities between us. She looks at me like she knows me well, which I find a little creepy, considering I had never met her before Vincent brought me here..._

(The first week was basically one long awkward pause. I swear, I have never felt so uncomfortable in all my life. Vincent said that Lucrecia had experienced something similar to me, but I don't believe that at all. Because you see, Lucrecia's situation was caused by her own free will. She had some idea of what she was getting into before she ever decided to do it. I, however, was forced into this. I had no choice. In fact, it was her past actions that have more bearing on my situation than any of mine. She is the reason I exist, but she is the reason I suffer.)

.

__

Today Lucrecia asked me who the father of my baby was. Somehow I don't feel like divulging all the facts surrounding the conception. It's like she's trying to look inside my soul. She's attempting to be empathetic, but it doesn't work. She can't understand me. Even if I tried to explain the situation, I know she'll just look at me like it was my fault. But I'm not like that. I was never like that. I'm not just some whore...

(And I've realized, that's what's been bugging me. I have this guilt, deep inside, because of my confused feelings and Cloud's rape. Am I a whore because I had my kids by Reeve and I'm having another now, with a different father? I know that isn't particularly my fault, but I'm accountable for my actions with Reno, to say the least.)

.

_It took her three weeks, but Lucrecia finally asked me about Yuffie and Vincent's relationship. I don't know if what I told her made her happy or sad. That's because I don't know if she wants Vincent, or if she wants Vincent to be happy. Her whole attitude seemed melancholy, but then again, her mood is always melancholy. If I was her, I'd be melancholy. If I had made the conscious decision to bring a monster into this world..._

(Because this wasn't by my choice. I don't think it was even by Cloud's. I don't know. Maybe this had to happen. If only I had a feeling of hope, not dread... If only I hadn't have been praying for a miscarriage from day one... Maybe I could have hope. Now all I have is this terrible foreboding, which maybe I created. Maybe I made a monster by not having faith in the seed of humanity.)

.

__

Some days I can feel the strength of this baby as it dwells inside me. I don't doubt that it's alive, or healthy. I try to will some messages into its infant mind. Images of love and peace and hope. Sephiroth never heard his mother's voice, never felt his mother's touch. Maybe that could have saved him.

(That brings the blame back to Hojo. After the birth, it all was out of Lucrecia's hands. Hojo made a monster. And he was proud. He was so proud to call that monster 'son.' The defilement of a man. The destruction of humanity, and he still called Sephiroth 'son.' Would that I have had him for a father... Maybe Tseng's love and devotion were the only things that saved me from insanity...)

.

_Lucrecia, she stares at me writing in here, but I have to record this... My mind has been getting hazy and I have visions...terrible portents..._

(I will never again have this state of mind. I want to be able to remember later, how I felt now, because that may give me a clue if there's ever another problem for me down the road...)

.

__

Today, Reeve called me on the PHS even though he had promised Reno that he wouldn't. Actually, he didn't seem to feel very badly about it. Apparently, he thinks that his desires are more important than his promises to his friend... But what am I bad-mouthing Reeve for? Later that day, Reno called me, after he had promised Reeve that he wouldn't call me, either. The calls made me feel homesick. I wish I was back in Junon, Undor-Hai...anywhere but here. This cave may be a safe place to hide, but there is no warmth here. One sad, disillusioned woman spent years here, waiting to die. Is this any place for a baby, even this one, to be born?

************

"Are you feeling okay...Raieyana?"

I looked up, slightly annoyed. "I just..." Another crampy feeling washed over me. "Well, what do you want?"

Lucrecia was peering at me, concerned. "If you get some 'pain' again in about fifteen minutes, that probably means you're in labor. You told me you'd been through this before, so there shouldn't be any problems."

Fifteen minutes, another contraction. "Can you get me the PHS?" I just had to call Reeve. And Reno.

Lucrecia shook her head. "I can't believe you. You're going to be just fine. Maybe you were in a hospital the first time, but..."

I cut her off. "I don't think I was conscious the first time. But that's not the point. I have someone I have to talk to. Just because you don't have anyone left who gives a damn about you doesn't mean that I'm alone in the world." I regretted it the minute I said it. But what she had said, it was condescending. She was treating me...like a child.

Silently, she got the PHS and walked back over to me. She handed it over with a cold glare. I just ignored her.

.

__

"Hello?"

"Reeve?" My voice was barely above a whisper.

_"How's it going..."_ He paused, probably unsure as how to address me. Hon, Ray, Raieyana...

"I...I'm in labor." My voice wavered. "I'm scared, and I don't want to do it here. The delivery."

_"Ray, you know that if it was up to me, you'd be at Junon Medical Center right now."_

The contractions were coming closer together now. I knew I was probably sounding like a little girl, but I really didn't care. "I want you to come here."

_"Me?"_

"You, Reno, Vincent, anyone. I'm scared, Reeve, and I'm here all alone."

_"What about Lucrecia?"_

"She's worse than a stranger. Because I know that she's partly the reason I'm here right now."

_"I'd love to come, but Reno wouldn't let me come alone, and we can't both leave. Hang in there, Ray. As soon as you're well enough, leave the baby with Lucrecia and come here."_

"Leave the baby?"

_"Remember, safety in separation. It can't be too much longer now, anyway. Keep the faith, all right? I love you."_

The PHS clicked in my ear. He had hung up before I could give a response to the last statement. He didn't want to hear it. He was probably right. I was in no state to decide where my love lied. The time had come at last. The culmination had come; it was time for the supernova.


	25. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

.

Reeve paced back and forth in his office. (What do I do? I mean, I should probably tell Reno what's going on right now. I should probably be telling him right now. But does he have any right, any right at all to know what's going on here?) He looked at the PHS, where he had slammed it down in frustration after Raieyana's call. (I should be there, damn it anyway, and it's his fault that I'm not there. He doesn't trust me and he damn well shouldn't. Because I'm willing to do whatever it takes.)

Reno walked into Reeve's office. "Who was on the phone, Reeve?" he asked.

Reeve broke eye contact first. "Ray. She's in labor."

"Shit, man, then what the hell are you waiting for? I gotta get over there, I--"

"Reno, we're both staying here."

"Huh? Are you nuts? She needs somebody right now. I know you wouldn't let me go alone, but--"

Reeve nodded. "And we can't both leave, so we'll both stay. Raieyana's in no danger, she'll just be alone right now. I can't say it's my fault."

"Don't blame me for this."

"Didn't say I did."

"Reeve, you implied. But I can't say that it's my fault you're such a stubborn sonofa... I don't understand why you would want to leave the job now, anyway. You didn't leave the first time, did you? What's different now?"

"Everything."

"Nothing, because if you cared, you'd be breaking the fucking door down trying to get over there. If you thought about her first and yourself second for once, she'd have a hand to hold when she went through it all this time. Well, not me, because you'll have to put a bullet in my brain before you can keep me from going to her. And if you do, you'll really have to explain your actions to her this time. Or maybe she'll eat up your excuses now like she did for the last crime you committed."

"Reno, what are you talking about?"

Reno put on his leather jacket. "I'm leaving. You can stay in this damn city for all the hell I care." He turned to leave and found himself face-to-face with Elena.

"Reeve, Reno," she said, "we have some major problems on our hands. Major problems."

************

Laida was confused. "I don't understand, Lucas. Why pull the Gens out now and attack Junon?"

Lucas took off his glasses and massaged his temples. "It's simple, Laida. We were getting nowhere holding the Highwind at stalemate. The other group has found nothing of Raieyana Amine. So we go to the head base of the Anti-Shinra coalition, and using our inside information, extract the head guys there, who know where Raieyana is, and who have contact with our enemies on the Airship. Two birds with one stone. Or should I say more, Lavana? If what you say is true..."

"It's absolutely certain, Luke," Lavana assured him, "Raieyana had two children with Reeve Jordan. If the children aren't with him, then they're wherever she is."

"And there is where my plan is so brilliant. I will have everything I want, at very little cost to myself. We saw Junon's defenses during that whole 'fire incident.' Their defenses suck. The Gens will easily plow through them. Here's the greatest part: we have Reno and Reeve give themselves over as prisoners in return for Junon's 'safety.' We occupy Junon, torture the prisoners for information, and we win. It's a win-win situation, because if they refuse, we attack Junon, take them as prisoners, occupy Junon, and torture the prisoners for information. Bottom line: we win."

************

Cloud stared at the blue-green glow in front of him. (The Lifestream. Here is where I will get all my answers.) He knew he would be able to find some open place between the Lifestream and the surface, here, in the Nibel mountains. He stepped slowly towards it, and he placed his hands cautiously in the flow of the Lifestream. Then he slowly entered.

.

(_"Here is the beginning and the end, the alpha and the omega. All the answers, all the questions are here, though maybe not in the proper order. You seek the answers for your questions, here. Isn't that right, Cloud?"_

I doubt that anyone or anything can answer all of my questions. But they all combine into this one... Tell me, why am I the way I am?

_"I could explain Hojo's experiments to you again. But that is not what you want to know. You want to know what force has hold of you, and what is it that makes you do these intolerable acts for which you condemn yourself. But why do you condemn yourself?"_

Because of the evil things I have done. I...I am ashamed of my actions.

_"Someday you will understand that you are not condemned for the things you do that are decided by destiny. I thought that I was very evil, but...I see now that all I did was what I was born to do."_

So you are saying I was born to be a criminal?

_"No, I am saying you are what you are, and you cannot change that. What happens, will happen and you have little control over the things which destiny has declared for you. I'm not saying that there isn't free will on the path of any person's life. Free will doesn't change the actions; free will reshapes the actions."_

I have no control over myself. I do not see where free will comes into play.

_"Then I will give you examples. If Sephiroth hadn't killed Aeris, something else would have come into play so she would have died. So she would have fulfilled her destiny. If Raieyana hadn't left me in the Northern cave when it collapsed, if she had taken me with her, something else would have happened to me so I could fulfill my destiny. I don't know if I would have died. Eventually, I probably would have, for this is probably part of my destiny..."_

Then, Ishmael, are you saying that...that the things that didn't happen...weren't meant to be? That they never could have happened?

_"If I knew the answer to that, I wouldn't... I just don't know."_

How come it is that I can talk to you like this, and not Aeris? Bugenhagen said there were exceptions, that not every spirit is assimilated into the Lifestream. And that's why you're here. So is she, is she...

_"No, she's not gone. As long as something holds her to the Planet, she is not gone. She's still here."_

She's here...

_"Yes, Cloud, she's still here. And until you let her go, she'll never be able to go to the Promised Land. Speak with her. Let her be free."_

And you're here. Is it because you are held back?

_"I wish it were. But this is just simply my destiny. But I will be there, soon. Don't worry about me. Go and talk to Aeris..."_

.

Aeris...I have waited for this for a long time.

_"Waited for what?"_

To see your face, to hear your voice. It's been such a long time.

_"What happiness can this bring you? How can this be what you wanted? I am just a shade of who I was. I can't laugh, I can't cry. You can't touch me. You would barely know who I am, what I am. You didn't want it to be like this. I didn't want it to be like this."_

This is better than nothing. Maybe I could never have had what I wanted, so let me have this...

_"One more faded memory? Why can't you remember me like I was? Why can't you remember me like I was when I was alive? Why couldn't you just let it be and let it be enough?"_

Because it's not enough. I wanted to hold you, to tell you what I never got the chance to. I wanted to give you a second chance. Okay, I'll confess, I did beat up Raieyana seven years ago because I thought if I could get the materia she had, then I had a chance to bring you back. I would have done anything, I still would do anything.

_"Even if you had, Cloud, even if you'd brought me back, it wouldn't have been right. It wouldn't have been what you wanted. It would have been something ugly and disfigured."_

You would have been alive, Aeris.

_"I swear, Cloud, you wouldn't have known who I was. You would have destroyed all of our memories."_

Am I destroying them now?

_"It hurts me every day to see you in pain. If this helps you, it will make me happy enough. Does that answer your question?"_

I will never have peace. I will never be happy with myself. What am I supposed to do? The only hope I ever had was you. Seeing you again. What do I have left now? Last time I tried to remember, I couldn't see your face. It's been over eight years, Aeris. I can't continue anymore like this, without you.

_"But he will need you. Sephiroth didn't have a father, and that is what destroyed him."_

My child? He would be better not knowing me.

_"I do not know if he will know you, but I know you will be the one to save him."_

How much can you see?

_"I can't see very much of what is to be, but I can look back at my past. And I do know when the time will come, and you can be with me."_

Will it be very long?

_"No time is a long time compared with eternity. I think the time will come and you might have wanted a little longer. But then everyone wishes that they could have had a little longer."_

Even you?

_"Especially me."_

I understand now. I didn't know that my search for you held you here, away from the Promised Land. I can't forget you, though.

_"You don't need to. Just accept my destiny, accept your destiny..."_

I will...)

"I will...Aeris, I promise." Cloud awoke on the floor of the cave. He got up and started to return to the Airship. He had a feeling that they wouldn't be stuck in the mountains much longer.

************

"There you are, Cloud," said Cid, "I was beginning to wonder whether or not we needed to go out and search for you. Where the hell have you been?"

Cloud shrugged. "Nowhere."

Barret shook his fist. "Well, while you were out doing hell knows what, those Gens just picked up their sorry little asses and runned away."

"They've had us hostage here for months, Barret," said Tifa, "even though they ran away, I still wouldn't call their asses sorry or little. But at least we can get away now."

"What is it's a trap?"

"Cloud, it's not a trap. They wouldn't have left after all this time unless they had received other orders. If they'd wanted to trap us, you'd think they would have tried the 'fake retreat' thing before three months had gone by. And remember, they tried to before, about a week after we got here. We can get away and help Vincent and the others in Costa Del Sol. So let's do it."

************

The voice coming from the helicopter was terse and demanding. _"I repeat, if the two citizens Reeve Jordan and Jack Reno allow themselves to be taken into our custody, our forces will leave the Junon area immediately. They will not be harmed in any way. If our gracious offer is refused, we will have no choice but to enter the city and take it by force."_

Elena glanced between Reeve and Reno. "I don't think they're bluffing. About fifteen minutes ago, the chief of police called and told me that Reeve's house outside the city had been broken into and completely sacked. But I just don't understand why they'd do all this, now..."

Reeve sighed. "It's plain and simple, Elena. They've gotten nowhere with all their other methods. They've destroyed this city, kidnapped Raieyana, and still they haven't destroyed this company or gotten their hands on Raieyana. They figure we know where she is, and they're right. The whole 'sparing Junon' promise is a ploy to get us to hand ourselves over. And it's a good plot. People should be coming here in an angry mob just about now to demand we hand ourselves over."

"Why? You both were excellent leaders during the fire. These people haven't forgotten the treachery of Shinra. Duh, they know Shinra set the fire six months ago. They won't... What's that noise?" Elena walked over to the window. "People really don't have any loyalty, do they?"

"What do we do now, Jack?"

"What can we do?"

Elena slammed her hand on Reeve's desk. "You two are not seriously considering handing yourselves over to them, are you?"

Reno took her hand. "Elena, don't you understand that either way, they destroy Junon, they destroy Alcor, and they take us hostage? If we go through this charade of surrender, then they'll partially go through their charade of withdrawal. To trick the people here completely."

"Elena, don't you understand that this is the only way to buy you enough time to get out of this city and warn Raieyana?" asked Reeve.

She shook her head. "I'm not running away. I can't leave."

"Elena," said Reno, "we can't call her on the PHS, they're going to be intercepting all communication connections. You know that they can listen in on our conversations. You know they have the technology. Neither Reeve nor I trust that we can keep Raieyana's location a secret under torture. We need you to escape so you can help her get away. We can't let them succeed."

"I don't understand. Aren't you letting them succeed?"

"No, Elena. We're letting them think they succeed." Reeve smiled weakly. "There is a small difference, although it doesn't change much for us. Let's go, Reno."

Reno stood up. "We've been through a lot Elena, and I hope this isn't it for either of us. The helicopters are on the roof, I know you can fly one. Yorlain will hold camp down here. I've told him what to do. No matter what happens Elena, remember that you're a Turk. That's an order."

She nodded. Reeve and Reno turned to leave. "Wait. I just want you to know that they're not going to get her. I swear to you, I'll keep them from her until my dying breath. I promise you won't be doing this for nothing."

Reno raised an eyebrow. "So I guess you've finally gotten over your petty little hatred for her. That's wonderful."

Elena shook her head. "She never deserved my hatred. I know that I was a bitch before."

"At least you figured it out in time to change. Take care, Elena," said Reeve, softly shutting the door behind himself.

Elena carefully turned on the television. She saw live news coverage of the crowd cheering as Reeve and Reno were taken into Shinra custody. "Those bastards," she swore, "they deserve to be taken over by the Shinra. Those damn bastards! I promise, I'll come back and win Junon back for you, Reno. For the Turks. And I'll save Raieyana. Maybe not because she's my most favorite person in the world, but..." Her words trailed off as she realized she had been talking to herself. (...I'll save her for Tseng's sake. And for yours. Reno.)


	26. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

.

(I'm so tired. So weak. So...) Raieyana's eyelids fluttered open. (...happy that it's all over. God, I wish I could've been unconscious this time, too.)

"Finally awake, huh?" Lucrecia walked over with the baby wrapped in a blanket. "You lost a lot of blood. If it had taken any longer, I probably would have called for help. But you did just fine, and you have a healthy baby boy."

Raieyana grimaced. "I notice you left out the traditional 'normal' tag."

"Well, he looks fine. Ten fingers, ten toes, check him yourself," she said, handing him to Raieyana, "it's all there."

"That's not what I meant and you know it!"

"That's real wonderful. This wouldn't all have been such an ordeal for you if you didn't make it that way. I offered my arms to you, my comfort, and you never have said 'thank you' even once."

Raieyana shook her head. "I'm sorry that I didn't pick up one the subtle vibes of 'welcome to my home' that you placed in your dank, dark, depressing cave of pain. Look, I'm sorry this whole situation was hell. But it's not something that would ever come up on a greeting card. I can't be the child you never had. I can't be more to you than a friend of a friend."

"Honey, you can't do everything by yourself."

"I know that, but I could do anything without your pity. You should save it all for yourself. God knows, you need it more than I do."

Lucrecia scrutinized her face. "What do you know about me? How much has Vincent told you?"

"I don't know," said Raieyana softly, "how much has he told you about me?"

"Only that you were in danger and needed a safe place to have your baby."

"That's it? Mr. Silent-Vampire-Man pulls through again. I'll elaborate for you. Maybe you'll finally understand. The Shinra are after me because they think I'm the last Ancient, they know I'm the daughter of Sephiroth, and that sounds pretty damn good to them."

Lucrecia's eyes lit up. "You're Sephiroth's...? Well, I'm..."

"I know."

"You knew all the time, and you still said all those things..."

"Look, this whole thing has not put me into a 'shiny-happy-Raieyana' mood. I've had a lot on my mind lately."

.

"Umm...hello?" Elena walked into the cave.

"What the hell are you doing here?" exclaimed Raieyana.

"Reeve and Reno sent me. The Gens have gone to occupy Junon. They took Reeve and Reno hostage. They told me to take Lucrecia to another hiding place, and bring the baby to...well, I'm supposed to meet someone named Lia near the ruins of Midgar..."

"Oh, that sounds right," said Raieyana.

"...and you're supposed to try to get to Costa Del Sol and meet up with the people there. Reeve said that you were armed, so I guess..." She paused, and looked at the baby. "He's awfully cute," Elena said.

Raieyana smiled weakly. "His name's Patrick. I...do you think we can rescue them?"

"I don't know, all the other Shinra buildings were hard to infiltrate..."

"No, that's not what I meant. I've infiltrated all the other ones before, I was just wondering if you knew how strong these 'Gens' were."

"I have no idea."

"Well, that's encouraging." Raieyana picked up her sabres. She gingerly handed Patrick to Elena. "Good-bye for now, my precious," she whispered, kissing him lightly on the forehead. "Until later, Elena, Lucrecia," she said, nodding. Then she slowly walked out of the cave.

.

Elena set Patrick down in the basket Lucrecia had been using as a makeshift bassinet. "So, where are you going to go?" she asked Lucrecia.

"Oh, I don't know," said Lucrecia softly. (_Reunion..._)

"You do have someplace to go, don't you? It wouldn't be safe to stay here."

(_...the reunion...rejoin the fold...reunion..._) "Of course, it's just..." She picked up a large rock. "...hard to really pick a place for it. There are so many choices." (_where will i go...i think i'll go and see the reunion...he says that it'll be better than the last...the last one was a poor turnout..._)

Elena looked at Lucrecia. (She sounds like she's not quite with it. I suppose anything would be better than this cave, though. What is she doing behind me? Is she packing?) "But if you pick a place, I'll fly you there in the helicopter. It would be terrible for me to think that you weren't safe..."

(_...even though everyone was invited...no one replied...no rsvp's...no 'thank you' cards...but now they will all come...all come...all come..._) "I think I'll be safe, so don't you worry," said Lucrecia, approaching her from behind. "I'll be just fine."

There was a loud sound when the rock connected with the back of Elena's head. Lucrecia had supernatural strength, of course. After all, someone who harbored Jenova inside of her could not be normal after all those years.

Lucrecia looked down at the blood softly flowing onto the floor of the cave. If she still had control of her own emotions, she would have felt sadness, and maybe remorse. "I'm sorry. You were such a nice girl, bringing me news and a helicopter. But I had an appointment that I just couldn't miss." She picked up Patrick and walked toward the front of the cave. "I really did you a favor. It's not like someone like you could survive the Reunion, anyway..."

.

(Why...does...my...head...hurt...so...much...) Elena slowly crawled to where Lucrecia had left the PHS. She turned it on. (No answer...I'm getting...some kind of voice mail. I have to leave...a...message. Tell...them...before it's too...late.)

************

The room was dark, except for one bright light. (And the damn thing is shining straight in my face. I can't believe the clichés this guy enjoys.) Reeve squinted at Lucas Shelding. (He must have been quite the newbie before I left the Shinra. I barely remember him. One of Hojo's lackeys... Hojo?)

"Look, Reeve, if you tell me where this Raieyana Amine girl is, you can leave scot-free. She can't mean that much to you."

Reeve closed his eyes. "Shelding, you know I'm not going to tell you jack. So why are you wasting both of our time? Just lock me up and be done with it. Or kill me. You're not getting any information out of me."

Lucas slammed his hand down on the table. "There's where you're wrong, Reeve. Either you or Reno is going to tell me the whereabouts of Raieyana and her two children. I don't care if I have to torture you until both of your minds are completely crushed."

"The children?" Reeve whispered.

"Yes?"

"Come a little closer, Lucas."

Lucas leaned in close to Reeve's face.

Reeve spit in his eye. "Go blow yourself, Shelding. Some people have loyalty, a concept that Shinra scum like you could never understand."

"Don't forget, Reeve," said Lucas, wiping off his face, "the you were a Shinra. Besides, Reeve, everything I do is out of loyalty. I just happen to answer to a higher power than you. The only god. Science."

"You sound just like Hojo."

"You say that like it's a bad thing. I take it as the highest compliment."

"Hojo was a madman. His actions destroyed the lives of many people and they almost destroyed this planet. Anyone who would take my statement as a compliment is a moron."

Lucas was furious. "You'll beg me for mercy when I'm done. You'll tell me everything you know, and you'll wish that you knew more things so you could tell them to me. I will destroy you."

"But Lucas, she'll destroy you. Do you think I'm afraid to die? I have no reason to fear the beyond."

"Reeve, there is no beyond."

"You can believe that if it helps you sleep at night."

Lucas turned to a couple of the Gens standing behind him. "Take him away, now! There's no need to be gentle, either. Take him to room 31B tomorrow morning. We'll see your threshold of pain, Reeve." He watched as his men left with the prisoner. He nodded to the others. "Bring in Reno."

.

Reno's greeting was laden with sarcasm. "Professor Shelding, a pleasure. I'm sorry that we haven't been able to finish the job. A couple of things came up."

"Well, I'm thrilled that we now have a chance to work out this misunderstanding. I think you owe me a little money, seeing as you never did what I asked you to."

"If it was the money, Shelding, you wouldn't have done this."

"And if a few things had come up, Reno, you still would've pulled through. Admit it, you set me up. I'll admit I was a fool to hire you. Tseng always told me you were the weakest Turk."

Reno was unfazed. "Look, maybe you could play Reeve through all his emotions, but you'll have to be smarter than that to fool me. Shelding, you didn't come to Midgar Headquarters until a week after Tseng died. And considering I know I'm the weakest Turk, your comments do not bother me."

"Only a weak man would let his emotions prevent him from completing an assignment."

"It's only the strongest men that are able to admit their weaknesses. The fools hide them and quiver with fear at the thought that someone might discover them. Look, Shelding, I know you worship the ground that Hojo walked on. Hell, you probably found out a way to either clone him or become him. But you see, I was a Shinra. And that's why I would burn in hell before I would let you get your hands on Raieyana."

Lucas wrote something down in his notebook. "So you believe in hell. Interesting."

Reno shook his head in amazement. "What, are you psychoanalyzing me now? I know there's an afterlife, and I know I don't belong in heaven. So of course there's a hell."

"If you're going to hell, Reno, why not tell me where the girl is and live a little longer. Ought to be better than burning, I'd say."

"Because I'm bitter, Shelding. If I can't have her, you sure as hell won't. Look, you're obsessed with the scientific and the Ancient parts of her, and you want her body. But she'll never want you."

"Reno, don't you understand that I will make her perform my will?"

"She'll crumple your mind like a piece of wet newsprint."

Lucas smiled. "Funny. You both have this exaggerated view of her strength."

"I think you're the one with an exaggerated view of strength. Your own."

"Who will bring forth the Reunion?" Lucas asked.

Reno looked him in the eye. "Not you. Because it's starting without you."

Lucas punched Reno in the mouth. "You don't know what the hell you're talking about!"

"Then why the hell you so scared, Shelding? Or don't you understand that you'll always be just somebody's lackey?"

In a mad rage, Lucas grabbed a rainstick from his office. It made a gentle water sound as he repeatedly beat Reno with it.

Reno spat out blood. "That all you got, Shelding?" he taunted.

"Take him away. I will keep you alive," he swore to Reno, "and you will watch me have her before your very eyes!" Lucas closed his eyes. (I will have Raieyana Amine... Hojo's perfection... perfect... _"my perfect specimen..."_)


	27. Chapter 26

Chapter 26

.

_"Legolas, Elena never came. She never came. Where's the baby? Where's Raieyana?"_

A low feeling of dread settled at the base of Legolas' spine. (Elena. Damn it, we shouldn't have trusted her.) He sighed. (What can I say so Lia doesn't feel so worried?) "I'm sure..." he began. Then he faltered. "Wait a minute Lia, somebody left a voice mail message on the PHS." He pushed the button.

_"I'm not sure if I can reach anyone in time. I know I won't reach you in time...to save myself. But that's not important. Raieyana has safely left, but Lucrecia...she ran off with the baby. My head hurts so bad...there's so much blood... Lucrecia has Patrick... and I think the Reunion is starting."_

Over the line, Lia burst into tears. _"Elena didn't betray us. Lucrecia did. And now Elena's gone. Why do all the good people die, and the vile survive?"_

"I think," said Legolas slowly, "that Lucrecia might not have been in control of her mind. She probably was called by the Reunion. But if Lucrecia's going to the Reunion, we gotta find out where it is. So we can get the baby back. We have to, for Raieyana. Wherever she is."

************

The wind whipped her hair into her eyes. (I needed an excuse for another break, anyway.) Raieyana pulled out a hair band from her satchel and tied her hair back. (I'm so tired. Costa Del Sol was never so far away. I swear.) She heard a loud rumbling sound in the distance. She looked around. (Funny. I don't see a thundercloud anywhere.) She slowly started walking again.

************

"Ruther, sit down. Sit down!" Elsie watched in horror as all the men around her arose from their cots and started walking towards the door.

_"...time for the reunion...reunion..."_

"hojo...hojo...where are you?"

"...the child..."

"Ruther!" She grabbed him by the shoulder. He threw her down. She stood up, angered. "Fine, go ahead! I don't know where the hell you think you're going to go! You're on a fricken' island, you morons! Ruther! Get back here, you're sick!" She followed him out the door.

************

"I have a rhetorical question," said Yuffie. "If we just blew the Amber Weapon out of the jet stream, where did it go?"

"Shut up, just shut up, Yuffie! Goddammit! Where the hell is that Weapon," asked Cid.

"You said we had enough firepower to blast its head off," said Cloud.

"It's not my fault. I wasn't the fucking genius that miscalculated," he said, looking at Red XIII.

"Don't try to blame me," said Red XIII, "you told me they were anti-aircraft missiles. I think they must have been 'peacefully-protesting-against-aircraft' missiles."

"We don't have time to wait around for the Weapon," said Legolas.

"We'll leave tomorrow afternoon. And find the Reunion. But we have to make sure the Weapon is gone from this area," said Vincent.

"We can't let it hurt these people after we protected them for so long," said Tifa.

************

(Tired. So very tired.) Another roar. (What the hell is that?) Raieyana whirled around. (Oh my god.)

The Amber Weapon grinned maliciously at her. The powerful blow from its arm sent her flying. She landed on her right leg. Hard.

Struggling, Raieyana stood, unable to put weight on her ankle. (I must have sprained it or something.) She looked at her sabres. (Shattered. There's got to be some decent materia in here.) The Weapon started to reapproach her. (Enemy Skill...okay...how about Aqualung?)

The Weapon roared in fury. Its eyes blazed with a monstrous power. It ran at Raieyana, clawing at her. The talons tore her clothes and ripped at her flesh. She fell prostrate on her back. She looked at the materia again, without much hope. Then she saw the red materia.

She remembered picking it up at some quaint little souvenir shop in Costa Del Sol. The fat, balding shopkeeper had told her it had enormous power. She still hadn't used it, thinking it was worthless. (If that was the one time in my life I'm wrong, let it be it.) She held the orb in her hands, concentrating all her strength on it. The inscription on the side: the Furies.

Slowly an incantation came from Raieyana's lips. It came from her lips, though the origin of it was anonymous.

_"Aeterni reges ob delicta, invicta monstra, persequitores maleficorum, Erinyes, audite meam implorationem. Iacete vestram iram in hoc quo innocentes interfecit. Servate me fato monstruoso."_

The colors flashed; Raieyana's mind spun. Beams of light tore through the sky, inflicting damage to the Weapon. Then she saw what she had summoned. The Furies.

She screamed as the three hideous beings flew past her. She fell to her knees, weak with pain and fear. She could not bear to watch the attack on the Weapon. (What have I done? What if they go after me next? What if...) Then the Weapon shrieked, and the sound reverberated throughout the mountains and across broad waters. Everyone within fifty miles of that spot heard the Weapon's death cry, and the Furies rose in a tailspin above the clouds and were gone as quickly as they had come.

Raieyana laid her head down on the sand of the beach. (I'm not bleeding too bad...Costa Del Sol isn't so far away...I can make it on my ankle...I'll just rest for a little while.)

That evening, the moon rose and gleamed its soft rays over the warm beach where Raieyana laid sleeping. Sometimes the eye of the hurricane is more dangerous than the storm itself. The forces of darkness converge for the final stand against the hope of humanity; however, at least for one moment, all fear is forgotten as Raieyana rests, quietly preparing for the battle of her life.

************

When Raieyana awoke, the waves were lapping at her feet. (Well, good morning, it's high tide now.) She tried to stand, but she couldn't. She finally managed to get to her feet, and she noticed that her clothes lay in tatters on her body. She pulled them together as best she could to cover herself up. Her shoes were nowhere to be found. She slowly started limping in the general direction of Costa Del Sol.

She turned around for one more look behind her. She saw her crushed sabres, strips of her torn clothes, and the carcass of the Weapon. Far in the distance she saw the crater and Lucrecia's waterfall. (If I defeated this Weapon, I can defeat Shelding.) Her hope rose. (I beat Death, I avoided the first Reunion. I think I'm strong enough to make an appearance at this one. I think I'm strong enough to start acting like a woman again and not like a child. It's time for me to make some decisions. And the first one I make is to not pity myself anymore.) Raising her head, she walked confidently towards Costa Del Sol. Every step she took was as firm as the frame of her mind.


	28. Part 9: Remnants of the Mortal Doubt - ...

Chapter 27

.

Raieyana saw the Airship floating above Costa Del Sol. Somehow, its appearance was all she needed to go that extra distance. She realized that people were staring at her. (I'm not exactly decked out in vacation clothes, but, then again, I'm not exactly on vacation.) She hesitated in front of the villa door. (Knock, or don't knock? I'm not a stranger...) She opened the door.

"Hey, Cid, is the Highwind ready now?" asked Cloud, his back to the door. "Cid? What's with y--" He turned around. "Raieyana?" he whispered. He ran to her side and gently carried her to the couch. "What the hell happened to you?"

"What is it, Cloud?" asked Legolas. "Oh my--" He ran into the next room. "Everyone...it's Raieyana."

Raieyana looked up at the circle of concerned faces. "I'm fine. It's not like it tried it tried to eat me or anything. I admit, I was afraid, but I think I handled it pretty well. One less thing we have to worry about, right?"

"What are you talking about?" asked Yuffie.

.

Raieyana laughed. Then she looked around. "Wait, you're serious, aren't you? I killed the...you know, the Amber Weapon. You could have heard it dying miles from here."

"Where's the body?" asked Red XIII.

"A few miles down the beach. It felt like a million on my ankle."

"Umm... Look, how 'bout I go get you something to drink," said Cloud, "and I bet Tifa can get you some clothes." He left, and Tifa went to her room.

"I...have my plans for the attack on Edinborough and the Shinra building," said Red XIII. "I'll go get my drawings and show them to you."

"I gotta go call Lia," said Legolas.

"I left my omelet and sausage on the table," said Barret.

.

Vincent and Yuffie exchanged looks. She shook her head and sat down next to Raieyana. "Why don't you go do something, Vincent," she suggested.

"But I..."

"Look, everyone else found excuses, just let me be the one to tell her. Your presence isn't going to help anything, believe me."

Raieyana looked at Yuffie. "Tell me what? Is it Reeve...is it..."

"It's just...after you left Lucrecia's...I guess she attacked Elena and took the baby. We think that Elena must be dead. We didn't get her message until yesterday, very late."

"The Reunion," said Raieyana. "She must be taking him to Shelding."

"How would she know where Shelding is? She's been living in a cave for over twenty years."

"Yuffie, wherever the Reunion is, that's where Shelding will be. Where would he go?"

"I honestly have no idea."

"Reno told me he was obsessed with Hojo. If you're obsessed with something and make a pilgrimage someplace, where do you usually go? The place that person died. But where did Hojo die?"

"Midgar," said Tifa. She walked into the room and handed Raieyana a tank top and a pair of pants.

"What's this?" she asked, holding up a pair of short daggers.

Tifa shrugged. "I figured you need weapons. They don't sell any crystal in this tourist trap. You're hard-pressed to find anything decent."

"I'll go get changed. So we're going to Midgar, I guess."

"I think it's fitting," said Tifa, "to end this where it began."

************

_"We can't give you much support. The Gens are attacking our city. I think they underestimated us, though. We can spare you a little air support. Mostly transports, though."_

"Thank you, Yorlain. It's just what we need," said Legolas, "Reeve left Junon in good hands with you."

_"I guess, since we're not burning down yet. Where do you want them?"_

"Do your pilots know where Mt. Crist is?"

_"That's in the middle of nowhere..."_

"Can you think of a better place for us to hide some support? Okay...yes, good luck to you, too." Legolas dialed a number. "Lia, get the warriors down to Mt. Crist. They'll be loading up into Alcor helicopters for the air raids on Edinborough. What? We're going to Midgar, I told you that. Raieyana? To tell you the truth, she looks better than she has been in a long time..."

************

"Set the machine on level twenty-five. Twenty-six." Lucas peered down into Reeve's eyes. "It hurts, Mr. Jordan, doesn't it?"

"I've...had...worse..."

"Ahh...Reeve, lying doesn't flatter anyone's personality. Especially yours. And it isn't benefiting your appearance. Frankly, my good man, you look like shit."

Reeve managed a smile. "I'd been...trying to pull...off the Shelding look...for years...don't tell me...I finally succeeded...with no one...around to see me."

"TWENTY-SEVEN! Maybe if you learned when to shut up..."

"It seems to me if I hadn't...you wouldn't...need to go to...these lengths...for your...information."

A voice came over the intercom. "Professor Shelding, there's a lady to see you. Her name is Lucrecia. She says she has a valuable prize for you to take with you to some sort of reunion. She looks a bit..."

Lucas smiled. "Send her down."

"Down there, sir?"

"Martin, are you going deaf? I said down here, didn't I?" He turned to Reeve. "Lucrecia...has she brought me some sort of surprise? Do you know what it is?"

Lucrecia walked in with a blanketed bundle. "It is time, professor."

Lucas took the bundle in his arms. "I hold in my hands the future of Shinra. Would you like to see, Reeve? He has his mother's eyes."

"Where is she, Shelding? Where's Raieyana? She would have never left the baby. Where the hell is she?"

"Reeve, I honestly don't know. You yourself told her to leave the baby. She listened to you. That's the only thing you ever mutter besides 'marry me, Ray.' Really, it's all very sickening." He motioned towards the guards. "Prepare Mr. Jordan and Mr. Reno for the Reunion. They want to see their Raieyana so bad, and I happen to know she will be there...now, for this."

.

Lucrecia's face flinched. "Please, may I hold him? I waited...you promised..."

Lucas looked at her coldly. "Lock her up in the prisons. I have no use for such an old, inferior specimen."

Two guards grabbed her arms and started to lead her away. She fell to her knees. "I'm his mother...he should see his mother...this is wrong...don't do this..." The guards grabbed her roughly and started to carry her away. "HOJO! He's my son, too! Why can't I hold him...just once?! HOJO!!" She started weeping.

"On second thought," said Lucas, "just execute her. No need to waste taxpayers' money on boarding her. Old, useless, slightly crazy..."

"Sephiroth...I'm sorry...I should've... Hojo was wrong. It's not your fault... Vincent, I was wrong. Hojo was not a scientist."

"Didn't you hear me? I said take her away! Kill her...shoot her in the fucking head! Get her out of here!" Lucas set Patrick down on the lab table.

Reeve looked at the baby. (If I could only...get my hands free...) He struggled against the hold of the guards.

Lucas picked up a pistol and aimed level at Lucrecia's head.

"He never ran a sane experiment in his life. All his brilliance...was just a foolish attempt at immortality...like he needed to preserve himself...or his foul seed."

Reeve strained against the guards. (So close...just a little more...a little farther...) One lifted up the blunt end of his gun.

"Shut up, BITCH!" Lucas pulled the trigger.

Lucrecia's lifeless body fell to the floor, spraying blood on the lab's pristine white walls.

Reeve's body sagged lifeless in the guards' arms as one knocked him unconscious with the butt of his gun.

.

Lucas shuddered and wiped off his hands with a tissue. "Take him to the Gelnika," he said to the guards holding Reeve. He nodded at one of the guards who had been holding Lucrecia. "Take the baby to the sanitary compartment of the Gelnika." He nodded at the other one. "Call Laida. We're leaving. And tell the H Block of guards to get Jack Reno and prepare the Gelnika for flight. We're going to Midgar. To see...where..." (Where Hojo... 

__

"where I died...")

************

(Just a little bit farther...so close...so close...)

"Reeve!"

Reeve opened his eyes. "Oh, my...Christ, my head hurts."

Reno grimaced. "They brought you on unconscious, man. I think you've got a pretty big lump. What the hell did you do? They never beat me. Just strapped me to that thing. Well actually once, Shelding had this rainstick, and..." He looked at Reeve. "Did you try to get away?"

He nodded. "Lucrecia came here with Raieyana's baby."

"The baby?! Where is Raieyana?"

"I guess," said Reeve slowly, "that Shelding has no idea. Otherwise he would have killed us already. So I think she got Elena's message."

"Elena... Lucrecia must've..."

"Lucrecia was crazy. She thought that Shelding was Hojo and the baby was Sephiroth. She did some Hojo-bashing and Shelding went nuts and shot her."

"So where we going now?"

"The Reunion."

"Reeve, I haven't ever been a religious person...but don't you think that this would be as good a time as any to pray? Slowly, one by one, every single one of our allies has went nuts or gotten killed. Or both."

Reeve nodded. "Poor Elena's probably dead."

"Dammit, why do I have to be the last Turk? I sure as hell wasn't the best."

"I don't know, Jack, I just don't know. And about praying...God hasn't answered any of my prayers lately... I think the only thing we can hope for is a swift death and hope against all hope that Raieyana is safe, far away from the Reunion."


	29. Chapter 28

Chapter 28

.

"Aunt Lia, when's Mommy coming home? When can we go to Daddy's office again?"

Lia looked at Aeris with a pained expression. "Aeris, can't you see I'm busy right now? Your mommy is safe and so is your daddy." (I hope.)

"Where is she, Auntie Lia?" asked Ishmael, "is she going to the Re-un-ion?"

Tonia walked into Lia's house. "Ma'am? All of our forces are safely on board the Alcor helicopters."

Lia sighed. "Thank you, Tonia. Have you seen Marlene?"

"She's probably flirting with my fourteen-year-old brother again."

"She was supposed to have been back here an hour ago to baby-sit. Tell her that I'll tell her father about that skinny-dipping incident if I can't trust her to do what she's supposed to do. For god's sake, you'd think she was sixteen and horny, not twelve and ornery."

Tonia smiled. "Yes, ma'am."

"Stop that! I'm too young to be a 'ma'am!' Do I look old enough to you?"

"If you weren't the leader, Lia... I can't call you 'miss,' that would be like you were inferior to me... You do understand, right?"

"Of course I do, it's just that...I'm worried, Tonia. I'm so scared."

She nodded. "I think we all are. We've never sent our warriors outside before."

"We've never needed to. Just remember this day, Tonia. The day we dared to show ourselves to the world because the world needed us. And because one day we might need the world."

************

"Can't this Airship go any faster!"

"Raieyana, you sound like you're looking forward to this," said Vincent, "I for one, dread having to confront Lucrecia."

"You won't have to, Vincent, she's dead." She looked at his shocked expression. "She was out of her mind, Vincent. Hojo's experiments never prepared her for something as mind-revolving as this Reunion. Surely you must feel it, too."

"I just pushed it back and hoped I wasn't going crazy."

"And you were allowed to push things back because you never got that close. Are you strong enough?"

"Raieyana, are you?"

She looked at Vincent. "Look at me. What is there that I'm not strong enough for? I used to be so afraid... There isn't anything left that could hurt me. Nothing left to give me pain. I don't fear death. Shelding and types like him feed off fear. Everything he does is out of fear. All this 'experimenting?' It stems from his fear of his own mortality."

"The reason some of us fear it is not for our own sake. It is because we are needed by others."

"Vincent, don't you realize every day is a gift, and when your time is up, then everyone has to let you go? I'm not saying be apathetic and stupid and don't defend yourself; I'm saying give life everything that you've got while you've got it, because it's better to die young and have fought for what you believe in than to die at an old age and have been oppressed."

"It's just...Raieyana. This could be the last time we talk. You...or I..."

"Don't worry about me. I can't die. This isn't my time. I just feel it." She turned her face to the east. Midgar.

Vincent was silent. (I'm not afraid that something will happen to you. I just don't know what will happen if the rest of us cannot keep control of ourselves.)

************

"Whoa, Camilla! Where'd you learn to fly one of these things?"

She laughed. "Silly Blake, while you all languished in Undor-Hai, I was on the outside getting my pilot's license."

"Just in case?" asked Drake, raising an eyebrow.

"Of course. Sure is useful now, ain't it? Where's Quake?"

Blake and Drake exchanged glances.

"I see. Airsick. No biggie. You guys will be parachuting down into Edinborough in about five minutes."

"What about you," said Drake, "aren't you coming?"

"No," she said, a gleam in her eye, "I get to drop bombs on the Mako reactors. Just remember, if there's no call to retreat, I'll pick you up on the shore at 1800 hours. Kick some Shinra ass! For Raieyana and Lia!"

Blake shook his head. "Never should've let you, of all people, on the outside. Next thing, you'll be telling us about all the steaks you ate."

"Well, there was this one hamburger joint--what the hell are you doing? It's almost time. Get ready!"

************

Lavana peered out the Gelnika window. "Laida, what's that?"

Laida's eyes widened. "They're bombing Edinborough!"

"We have to go back!"

"We can't!" Laida glanced at Lucas. "He'll go nuts on you. On all of us."

Someone tugged at her shoulder. "Laida?"

"Yes, Martin?"

He lowered his voice to a whisper. "I just got a message over the radio. It's the Gens. Junon's forces weren't as weak as Lucas estimated. Almost all of our Gens, weapons, everything--have been destroyed. There has also been an air raid on Edinborough--"

She waved her hand. "I know. I saw."

"--along with a massive ground assault. I have no idea where the hell we're going, Laida, but there won't be any Shinra left for us to go back to. So Lucas sure as hell better be leading us to the Promised Land, or I'm going to go get a position at Alcor."

"If you tell Lucas what you told me, he'll kill you."

"Notice that I'm telling you."

"Why do you think I'd have mercy, Martin? Just because I enjoy the sex? You should know it wouldn't be that hard to replace you...improve upon what I've got..."

"Laida, I'm telling you because you're not a fucking lunatic."

"I know Martin, just a poor attempt on my part to joke. You know that. It's just... Lucas did some experiment on himself...tried to turn himself into Hojo. I don't know if it worked, or he just drove himself nuts. Either way, we're all going to some little thing he calls the 'Reunion.'" She paused and put her hands to her head. (Damn...another migraine...

_"It's almost time...RAIEYANA..."_)

She screamed and fainted.

"Laida..." Martin caught her in his arms.

"What's going on?" asked Lucas, coming back to where they were sitting.

"I think...I don't think she feels well...I'll lay her down in the sleeping quarters."

"Be careful with her." (I wouldn't want her to...

_"miss the Reunion...it would be such a shame..."_)

************

"Is this seat taken?"

Tifa looked up into those blue eyes...those bright blue eyes... "No Cloud, go ahead. You're not sick, are you? We'll need you."

"No...at least not motion sick, if that's what you mean. I just don't feel well."

"Is it the Reunion?"

He nodded. "I don't hear a beckoning, or a calling...it just feels like occasionally a telephone conversation is switched on in my head. Between Hojo and Sephiroth and..." (I don't want to say it when I'm not sure. I don't hear Aeris' voice. I don't hear Raieyana's voice. But I can feel their strength. I don't know if they're protecting me...or if they're trying to stay Sephiroth and Hojo, keep them from our minds...from my mind.)

Tifa smiled sympathetically. "It must be hard. I guess I'm lucky." (What can I say? I don't know what it feels like to have voices in my head. All I ever had, all I have, is my feelings, my emotions. They give me strength, they can make me weak, they can give me empathy...but not for this. Because I have no idea what this is.)

"Tifa, I've been stupid."

"What in the world are you talking about?"

"I pushed you away, I pushed everyone away. Because I couldn't let go of the hope, that some way, somehow, I could bring Aeris back to me."

Tifa's face fell a little. "Oh."

"But I'm sorry. I pretended not to hear your words, see your eyes. I never tried to see your love. I never tried to love you."

"Cloud," Tifa said, putting her hand on his shoulder. "Love isn't something you try to do. It just happens. It's better for both of us that you never pretended, never tried. We would have tried to make love where there wasn't any. We would have ended up with what we started with. Nothing but good intentions."

"No, that's not what I meant. I never tried to comprehend what I felt for you. It was just like, 'There's Tifa. She's my friend. When she's around, it's good; when she's not, it's bad.' I never tried to understand it more than that. But I realize now that I care about you, Tifa. I don't know if I love you. But I hope you can let me try and figure out if I do or not."

"I don't know if I can..."

"Tifa, please."

"Cloud, there was a time when I would have given you the world. I would have done anything to get you. That was a long time ago. I think I'm just finally starting to heal."

"I never wanted to make you unhappy."

"I know that...it's just... It's not that I don't still love you. I just don't know if I'm willing to open myself up to so much hurt again. Besides, this isn't the right time for any of us to make promises. We have no idea what the hell is going to happen to us out there."

"How far are we?"

"I can see the shore... We're almost back...back to Midgar."


	30. Chapter 29

Chapter 29

.

"What do you want us to do, Captain?"

Cid looked up. "Some damn 'full-fledged pilot' you are. Land it outside the city ruins. I don't want to parachute down into a pile a scrap metal, that's for sure. It'll be easier to go it on foot." He glanced at Shera. "You know, I think the kid actually has a mind of his own. It's just so rarely used that I fear..."

She smiled. "He just wanted to double-check with his captain. I think it shows how much respect the crew has for you. They don't need you; they just want to do what you want, though."

"Shera, you do understand that this might be it?"

She looked at him, puzzled.

"This may be my last mission. I ain't no young little thing anymore, and this is gonna be some great unknown power we're messing with. I don't know if I can...if I will...hell, what I'm trying to say is..."

"I understand. You want to say good-bye, thanks for the laughs. I think I see what you're getting at. I'm touched, I really am, but aren't there a few more important people that you should be talking to? After all, I'm just your housekeeper."

"You're more than just that. Shera...you...I...you saved the Airship, for crying out loud!"

"Fine, I can shoot a gun. I don't see why you'd waste time on...are you practicing your 'last hurrah' speech on me? You should say it a little more emotionally, but overall, it's rather good."

"This isn't some speech, and if it was, this isn't me practicing. I've already waited too long to say it, but I'm not going to let it turn into too late. I don't care what I said before, what I thought I thought... Dammit anyway... Look, Shera, you may be a dumbass, but then, so am I. And you're the most important thing in the world to me. I'd never admitted it before because I was so afraid that if I let my feelings close, then when I would lose you, it would hurt too much. But when I heard...everything about those Gens attacking Rocket Town, I realized that it hurt just the same whether I told you how I felt or not. And I still would feel empty if you were gone."

Shera was quiet. "Cid? This isn't like you at all. I don't know what to say."

"You don't have to say anything. I haven't been blind for all these years. I was the one that had to speak. You have been so good to me after I have treated you so shitty... I just know that if everything ended now, I wouldn't want you to remember my facade--"

"Facade?!"

"Look, I read it a book. Anyway, Shera, I only want you to remember..." He lowered his voice and mumbled something so fast that Shera couldn't understand him.

"What?"

"I... I love you." He leaned in and kissed her. Then he pulled back and scrutinized her face. "Why are you crying?"

"Because I'm so...happy."

Cid pulled her close and held her tightly. "I'm sorry that I was so bad to you...I'm so damn sorry... I never meant nothing I said to you before."

"I know you didn't mean it...I...couldn't have stayed otherwise. I understand completely."

.

"Cid? It's time to go."

Cid looked up at Barret. "Alright. See you later, Shera."

They started walking towards the deck. Barret gave him a bemused expression.

"What the hell are you looking at?"

"Damn, Cid, it's about fucking time, that's all I have to say."

Cid narrowed his eyes. "None of your business. Why d'you have to go and stick your nose in it?"

"Destroying the Shinra once and for all ain't my business? What the hell is my business, then?" He looked at Cid. "What did you think I was talking about?"

"Nothing...just never mind."

"Oh, you thought I was talking about that? Ha, Cid everybody else knew it but you. We were just wondering how long it would take your dumbass to find out. C'mon, let's go destroy Shelding and get the former Shinra spy and former Turk back."

"Why couldn't you just say 'friends?'"

"Jus' a man of words, I guess."

************

"Maybe you could tell me what the point of all this is," said Reeve to the man who entered the holding cell where he and Reno were chained.

"Look, I just take orders. All I know is that you must be some sort of criminals."

Reno snorted. "Why don't you just come out and say you have no thought of your own so you swallow whatever shit Shelding throws at you."

"Could you can it for once, Reno?" asked Reeve, exasperated. "Look, buddy, I know you have to follow orders, but I'm going to tell you right now, we're not criminals. We surrendered ourselves over to Shelding because he threatened to destroy Junon."

"Junon? I just heard that..."

"What did you hear, kid?" asked Reno.

"We were massively defeated. We had grossly underestimated the Junon forces. Just so you two know, I don't follow Shelding's orders any more than necessary. The only person with authority over me is Laida."

"Let's reminisce, Reno, about the ol' Shinra-treachery-allegiance crap. I remember it well. Lowers were lackeys for people higher up. The higher ups promoted their lackeys when they got promoted. It was kinda like gambling."

"I'm sure that Laida doesn't give a damn if we keep you guys locked up or not, but in this case, I am afraid of Shelding. I heard he went beserk earlier today. So I really don't want to end up on his bad side today. So I gotta take Reeve to him now. Somebody else will come for Reno."

Reeve shrugged. "I won't struggle. I knew what I was getting into when I surrendered. I don't blame you, but I have a little advice for you. Get out of the Shinra mess as soon as you can."

.

The room was dark except for the crack of light that escaped between the two black curtains. Reeve squinted, trying to adjust to the sudden change of light. (Shelding, you would take the brightest room in a Gelnika and adjust it to satisfy your warped desires.)

"They all hear the calling, whether they realize it or not. They all feel the coming radiance, though they may not all come to see it. This child is a beacon to more than just one frail woman."

"I wouldn't call Raieyana frail," said Reeve hotly.

"What would you call her than? Sickly, weak, dying? Though you never betrayed her whereabouts to me, in your haze of pain you relayed many of your own fears. You truly believe that Raieyana isn't well."

Reeve was silent.

"Please don't blame Lucas Shelding. I think you know, perhaps, that he was little more than an empty vessel, anyway. He thought himself more than willing to allow me back into the physical realm through his body. Although he fought me when the time came just as much as anyone. As you fought my son when he possessed your mind."

"What happened that day was foretold centuries before. I could not have changed those events, even if I succeeded against Sephiroth's will."

"Well, Reeve, today was predicted at the dawn of time. If there is a creator, it intended for this to occur. And I, Hojo, intended it to occur from the day I created a child from my own son and that Ancient. Sephiroth was perfect; I planned to combine his cells with every successive offspring from Raieyana on, to build the perfect Ancient. With Sephiroth gone, though, there was a need to find another with almost as much strength as he. Isn't it a marvel, how even in the Lifestream, I could use the communication channels of the Jenova cells to reach Cloud Strife one night six months ago? I never intended the incident to be so violent, but in my desperation..."

"Shelding, did you call me in here just to prove you were insane?"

"The transformation is complete. Hojo's mind in Lucas' body. My legacy made it simple for him to create the super-Soldiers and then implant my DNA into his own body. I am just trying to explain to you why I have to call the Reunion. Many of my experiments have run far away. I need to call them back to me."

************

Raieyana turned to Barret. "Is this the way?"

He peered through the twisted metal and past the collapsed buildings. "We're in Sector 3, but near the center. We can get to where the power controls were from here. I sure hope we find Shelding there."

"I'm going to kick his ass!"

Everyone turned and looked at Shera.

"What, do you guys think I'm gonna be demure after what he did to Rocket Town with his Gens?"

"I don't know if this battle will be purely physical," said Red XIII.

"But part of it will be, Red," said Yuffie, "and that's where we come in."

"Are any of us strong enough for this, though. I'm just not sure..."

"Nothing in this world's sure," said Vincent, "nothing is completely trustworthy. Not when Hojo is involved in any way."

"Keep moving," said Cloud, "we have to find Shelding. We have to save them." (Reeve, Reno, and my son.)

Raieyana followed the group through the ruins of a floating city she had never seen, moving towards the death place of a creator she had cursed her whole life. To save the child she never wanted to have, and to make a decision she never wanted to make.

.

__

Darkness descends as I descend

Night creeps along the horizon

I see the distant oblivion

The monster creeps into the shell of a man

The world shudders in horror

Only the pure can see everlasting disease

Quietly I turn to my only dream

There was a time when the only time I was cured was when I healed myself

Then I was revived by hope

Now I know the only time I am injured is when I hurt myself

The pain can never be too much to bear

I have more to carry than my own

My eyes scan the clouds

The storm tears up the trees swaying to the gust of the wind

Patience is a virtue

I've been patient for an eternity

Now the time has come


	31. Part 10: People Living in Glass Houses ...

Chapter 30

.

Reno glanced at Reeve. "If they're coming like that lunatic says they are, Raieyana and them should be here pretty soon, you would think."

Reeve shrugged. "I don't know. I daresay they may have tried to hit Edinborough and are lost now that they found nothing there."

"Why wouldn't they just know where we are? They say there's this sort of mother-child bond. Can't Raieyana just sense where her baby is?"

Reeve tried to slap his forehead, but remembered his hands were restrained. "They're probably coming, Reno. I completely forgot. The whole Jenova thing links minds. Raieyana can probably tell where Shelding is, too."

"I wish they'd hurry their asses up already!"

"I don't know. Maybe it would be better for them if they didn't find us."

************

Red XIII sniffed. "If this isn't the place, then we must be fairly close."

Raieyana nodded. "Yeah, we're close all right." She glanced at Cloud. (I wish I could go into this battle and have complete faith in him. Yet, he is to blame for this to begin with.)

"What the--" Barret ducked down and motioned for the others to do the same. "Look, they're all up there. Just sitting there. Shelding and his people. I can see Reno and Reeve."

Raieyana gasped. Even from such a far distance, she could tell that they had been pretty roughly treated. (All this...surrender...just to get Elena out of Junon and save me. And then Elena... I am not worth all this. No one is.) "What the hell are you doing, Barret? We came to fight them. Why are you hiding?"

"Umm... Ray?" said Yuffie, "there's this...skill used in fighting...called the 'element of surprise.'"

"We can't surprise them. What do you think they're waiting for? We can't surprise them if they're expecting us. They've probably prepared for every situation...except... I have an idea."

"So do I," said Cid, "ambush their fucking asses."

"No," she said, "walking up there like we're walking into a peaceful little meeting."

.

Tifa glanced at Cloud. "This plan is bullshit..." she sang lightly.

"Actually," said Vincent, "when you consider our reputation of surprising violent attacks, this will probably surprise them a lot. Then we attack."

"Damn, Vince," said Cloud, "that's just redundant. By not doing a surprise attack, we can do a surprise attack? You're talking silly."

Then they watched in amazement as Raieyana walked straight into the midst of the Shinra. It seemed like everything on the entire world had paused, her presence was so commanding.

Reeve felt like slapping her. (Ray, you're handing yourself over. What the hell is wrong with you?)

"I believe," she said, "that the person that I have business with is a man by the name of Lucas Shelding."

Lucas smiled at her. "The person you are looking for was a man by the name of Lucas Shelding."

"Well, who should I look for now?"

"I think the person you want is called Hojo."

Raieyana laughed. "Actually, I would love to speak with him, but unfortunately, he died seven years ago."

"Yes, but now he breathes again."

"That's not possible."

"How can you, Raieyana Amine, tell me that it is impossible to bring back the spirit of a soul gone from the Planet?"

She paused, wondering how much he knew. (This is, undoubtedly, the person I'm looking for. So he thinks he's Hojo.) "I'm not saying that it's impossible. I highly doubt that the spirit of Hojo was allowed to rest seven years and was not assimilated into the Lifestream."

"Ah, yes, your religion tells you no, but science will now tell you yes. You are such an ungrateful child, doubting the scientific skills of your creator. I can see Gast's suspicion in your eyes."

"His discrimination created a child who was the savior of the Planet and Hojo's lack of it produced a child who was the would-be destroyer of the Planet. Tell me, who is the greater man?"

Lucas stood up. "I am, because it is Hojo who stands before you now. All that is left of Gast is probably heating homes in Edinborough."

.

Cloud emerged from his hiding place and stood next to Raieyana. "I don't know about life after death, but I don't believe what you say about Gast because all that is left of Edinborough is smoldering ashes."

"You lie!"

He shrugged. "Believe what you want to believe. If you really are Hojo, then damn, why did you have to come back to prove your incompetence? We already knew about it the first time we killed you here."

"And as you say you will destroy me, I say that you will sit down and slumber. Who is right?"

Cloud fell over, in deep slumber.

"Who is in complete control?" He turned to Raieyana. "Why do you insist on continuing this farce of resistance?"

"I will continue until you drop your farce. All I ask is that you give me my son and free my friends. This is no threat towards you. I came in peace, and all you ask for is battle."

"It's not that I want a battle. I can't expect anything better from organisms of such low intelligence."

Raieyana shook her head. "All I want is peace. All I ever wanted is peace. If you are Hojo, don't you understand that you make this world a living hell for everyone? Can't you comprehend what tragic things you create?"

"The comfort of one person should not stand in the way of science."

She clenched her fists. "How about every person living on the Planet?" She stepped closer to him.

"Do you think you can kill me and save your friends? Your child? My men are instructed to carry out executions if you lay a hand on me."

"I don't need to lay a hand on you."

"Neither do I."

.

Raieyana was knocked down by a blast of energy. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see everyone else attacking Shelding's back-ups. Everyone but Cloud. He was still sleeping. And then Vincent fell.

"Vince!" Yuffie screamed as Shelding's guards restrained her. She twisted and tried to wrench herself free, but her efforts were futile. She strained to get a glimpse of her husband. (He's breathing...wait, he's not even injured. He's just sleeping like Cloud, like...)

Tifa realized what was happening as both Legolas and Red XIII became unconscious. She moved to attack Yuffie's captors when she found herself also held by Shelding's men. "Let go of me, you low-life bastards! Damn you to hell!"

Raieyana scanned her surroundings. All of her allies had either been restrained or rendered useless by Shelding and his men. (Such a short battle. Why is it that I stand? Is he saving some sort of torture for me?)

"Raieyana," Lucas muttered with scorn, "I guess Tseng was an emotional sap, just like any other weak mortal. I heard that he worshipped you. Raieyana, such a silly name. It suits you, though. I suppose you're wondering why you're the only one left standing. I'll tell you why--I want to see you surrender."

"Never," she swore.

"What if I said I would free your two 'friends?'" he said, emphasizing the quotation marks.

Reno burst out. "It's all bullshit, Raieyana, don't fall for it!"

Lucas smiled. "And to emphasize my point, I'll give you a preview of what I'll do to them if you try to keep this stalemate up." He raised his arm and pointed towards Reno. He made a motion as if he were grasping something and throwing it.

Reno flew into the side of his cell. He fought to breathe. "None of this fucking matters," he said, choking, "just get your son and go."

Raieyana looked into his eyes. (Earnest.)

Lucas shook his head. "That is not one of the options. Either surrender and save your friends or resist and destroy them. It doesn't seem like a hard decision. I will have my specimen!"

.

"You are bluffing," said Raieyana. "You will not harm me and you will not harm them because that will leave you without a bargaining tool. We are safer here than anywhere else."

"Believe it if it makes you feel better," said Lucas in a low voice.

"Why do you insist on saying things about my father, of whom you know nothing?"

"Why do you insist that I cannot be Hojo, even though the proof lays right before your eyes?"

"There is nothing you do that I haven't done or am not able to do."

He smiled. "Is that so...is that so... Then tell me, oh, great and powerful Cetra, why is it that I am able to direct your life from beyond the grave while you cannot, even though it is your life, and you have been trying to control it from the realm of the living?"

"Assuming you are Hojo, what have you done since your all too wonderful demise to control my life?"

"You could say that I am solely responsible for the existence of that child that you seem so eager to hold in your arms again. Jenova-path communication has its power."

"You expect me to believe that?"

Lucas shrugged. "The other alternative is that Cloud Strife willingly and purposely rape--"

"Don't say that! He wasn't in control of himself!"

Lucas smiled excitedly. "I know. I was."

.

Reeve banged on the walls of his cell, enraged. "Rot in hell, Shelding!" He was flung into the wall of his cell telekinetically.

Raieyana concentrated on Lucas' face. His nose snapped back and blood spurted out his nostrils.

"Pretty good for a beginner."

"You fucking bastard."

"Take out the 'bastard' and your sentence is correct," he sneered.

Her eyes blazed.

"Yes," he said, "let's see it all. This is what I've been waiting for. The last of my theorems. The Jenova/Rage connection. I've seen it in all specimens, save you, although that Gongaga incident aroused my suspicion. Give into it. Rip me limb from limb. Give into your madness. Feel your power."

"I have no rage, just disgust towards you!"

"Come on, Raieyana. You enjoy it. Anything and everything with Jenova does. The rush off power gets most specimens off. Does it turn you on? I saw the Gens go through multiple orgasms as they trashed Rocket Town. I guess it felt really good when you tortured Rude."

"Shut the fuck up," she yelled.

"Why are you so afraid to hear this? It's your nature...it's who you are..."

.

Raieyana's head spun. She heard the words. (My nature...who I am? Who am I? What is it that I'm missing? What... Wait...I think I understand.) "I know who I am," she said.

Lucas took a step closer. "Then you realize what you must do."

She nodded. "I understand."

He lifted his hand and caressed her cheek. "Why did it take you so long?"

Reeve was bewildered. (If he is who he says he is, then this is really sick and wrong. Has he got her brainwashed?) He met her eyes, briefly. (No, she has a plan.)

She smiled weakly. "I had to sift through false accounts, false information. Some of the people closest to the original situation had gotten the facts wrong. Now I realize where they were wrong."

Lucas' hands closed around her waist.

Raieyana's hand closed around his throat. "The only person Hojo injected with Jenova cells was himself." She twisted his head around, trying to break his neck.

He threw her back with an astonishing amount of strength. She had almost forgotten about her injured ankle; now, she struggled to stand.

"Lucas, you lied to me." A voice that came from above. Laida stood on top of the old Mako cannon. "You told me it would make me immortal." She sneered at him. "You were only trying to make yourself immortal."

"Laida," he begged, "I never lied. You will never die."

"Yes, my body will live on, but not me. Not my soul. And now, it's too late for you. He told me the truth. Your son."

"My son?"

"You killed your own child and made him into a clone of yourself. A manifestation of your own hatred for mankind, who had made you an outcast. Just like they had made Jenova an outcast. You had heard the legends. You knew that if you tried, you could make a perfect engine for revenge. Jenova was willing; the hatred was filling her frozen cells to the brim. You needed a strong body for your purpose, and that's when you chose Lucrecia. If you had offspring with her, they would be physically stronger than you yourself." Laida looked at him. "I have always been selfish, and I have never thought of anyone but myself. You lied to me, Lucas, and I think he is inside me. Sephiroth. The real Sephiroth. The one that was never born because you replaced his cells with your own through your injections while he was in the womb."

"Nonsense," said Lucas, "everything I have done is for science."

"It was a nice false cover, but I see through you now. I agree, this is too much to take. You've gone too far, even for immortality. I...I have to kill you now, Lucas. I'm sorry."

"No need to apologize. You wouldn't be able to go through with it, even if you really wanted to." His words were cut short as a facsimile of the Masamune Blade tore through his back and exited through his stomach.

"No," said Laida, "I'm sorry I didn't do it sooner. Damn you, you destroyed Shinra. Now I have to commit suicide before someone lynches me."

Lucas coughed up blood. "Raieyana," he murmured, "this will never be the end. As long...as your child...breathes...I breathe... You will save him..." He pushed a button. "Because the plate falls...in fifteen minutes..." His eyes shut, and Lucas Shelding, or Hojo, returned to the Planet.


	32. Chapter 31

Chapter 31

.

Raieyana turned and saw Laida slit her own throat with a small dagger. She checked the timer on the center column. (He was wrong. This plate doesn't fall in fifteen minutes...all of the Midgar ruins left standing above the slums will crash.) She saw the keys for Reno and Reeve's cells. She grabbed them and dashed over.

Cloud and the others who had been put into a forced sleep awakened groggily. He glanced around and saw a figure huddled over...where Raieyana's baby was. Then he recognized the figure. (Lavana.)

As Cloud approached, Lavana held a small pistol to the head of the child. "If you come closer, I'll kill him," she warned. He grabbed the gun.

Lavana set down Patrick and ran after the gun discharged into Cloud's shoulder. She raced past the bewildered guards, heading out of the ruins of the city.

Cloud withdrew his sword. (You're not getting away that easily, bitch.) He cast Ultima on her. He caught up with her and decapitated her with his sword. Or he attempted to. He had thrown the Lowlellean into the ocean and the Ultima Weapon just did not have as strong of a blade. Instead of making a clean cut, the blade glanced off the bones of her neck, merely severing her jugular vein. Leaving her to bleed, he limped back to his son.

.

Meanwhile, Raieyana struggled with the locks on Reeve's cell. (I have the key...why won't it open?)

Someone approached her from behind. She whirled around. "You cannot open these cells without swiping a Shinra keycard," said Martin softly. "I will use mine."

"Why are you helping us?" asked Raieyana.

"Sometimes," he said, "although very rarely, the powers that be will allow the soul of a person on the Planet to exit into the Lifestream before their time in this plane is completed. The soul willingly departs and trades places with a soul in the Lifestream. Another soul is allowed to use that body--for a purpose."

"You want me to believe that you're not the Shinra scum that used to inhabit that body?" she asked in disbelief. Then she noticed something...about his eyes. She could almost see the longish red hair, the aquamarine eyes... But she could see the love. Her mouth formed the name, but she made no sound. (Ish...)

"Hey, the bitch that started this is over here," called one of the few remaining guards.

He placed a finger to her lips and nodded. "Free them now. I will occupy the guards."

"All of them? But you'll..."

"I know, Ray. This is destiny. I have to do this. Before, I took the easy way out. When today is over, Reeve won't have lied to my parents." He stepped out and started shooting the guards.

Raieyana turned to the lock. It opened easily. Reeve crawled out. "Go get Reno," he said.

"Are you okay?"

"Get him out!"

This time, the battle was going in the good guys' favor. Raieyana dashed over to Reno's cell and opened it.

"Raieyana," he said, looking into her eyes, "is what Shelding said true? About the plate?"

She nodded.

"You gotta get the hell out of here! Why is everyone fooling around, trying to kick those guards' asses, when they should be hauling ass back to the damn Airship before they get crushed when the rest of this fucking city falls down?"

"I don't know."

"And you can't leave Shelding's body there. What if a wacko scientist tries to clone him or something? I don't want some dumbass parading around saying he's Hojo III."

"I don't know how to stop that, Reno."

Reno ran his hand through his hair. A faint smile tugged at his lips. "I do."

Barret shot the last guard. The Shinra side had gone down completely under casualties. There was a casualty among the party, but only Raieyana would know. Martin Black's body lay in the pile with the guards, but it was the only one filled with bullets from the Shinra guns.

Legolas checked the clock on the pillar. "Ten minutes to detonation," he said.

"We don't have enough time to get to the Airship," said Vincent. "But we've succeeded in our goals, at least."

"How the fuck can you sit there and say that?" asked Reno. "We don't all gotta die here. I can override the bomb sequence."

"Then why don't you shut your ass up and do it?" said Barret.

"I can't stop it from exploding. But I can rig it up to start another countdown. One for a Mako explosion."

"Not a Mako explosion," said Yuffie.

"It's the only override code I know. Shinra never taught me how to save things, only how to destroy them. But if I wait until the countdown on this clock gets really low, like one minute, I can enter the override command and get you fifteen more minutes."

Cid breathed a sigh of relief. "You're pretty damn awesome, Reno, that's all I'm saying."

The group started making a hasty backtrack through the path from whence they came.

.

Raieyana stared up at Reno. "You can get out in fifteen minutes, right?"

He just looked at her.

"Dammit, Reno, answer me!"

"I don't know if you guys can get out in twenty-five minutes... Raieyana, if you don't leave now, you're gonna die."

"How can you let them leave when they don't realize that you're doing a suicide mission? I don't care how much you've fought with them, they'll feel guilty and it will tear them up inside if they knew they left you behind to die."

"Raieyana...how many people have I killed? If I don't do this, it's like I killed more. By not saving all of you. After Sector 7...I'm just trying to make up for it."

"And you weren't going to tell me? You weren't even going to say good-bye?"

"You have to go, now!"

"I can't leave."

Reno shook her. "They'll all come back for you in a few minutes. You'll kill them all if they think they have to try and save you."

"I thought you loved me."

"I do. I wouldn't be doing this otherwise. Once, you gave your life willingly to save the people you loved. It's my turn." He drew her close and held her tightly. "No tears. It might tip the others off. No matter what, all of you have to get into the Airship and fly as far away as possible. The Mako blast will scorch the ground all around Midgar." He kissed her on the cheek.

Raieyana hurried to join the others. She called back to Reno. "I..."

"I know, Ray, I know. You gotta go now."

She ran as best as she could on her bad ankle, holding back her tears. (But I made a decision...and it's too late. I waited too long, and now it's being made for me.) She saw Yuffie up ahead, lagging behind as usual. "Come on," Raieyana said, "we have to hurry!"

************

The Airship waited on the ground, the occupants looking for their last member to emerge from the ruins of Midgar. The others had chatted a little earlier, when they were waiting for Reno, all except Raieyana. Now they all stared towards the city with a growing feeling of dread.

"If Reno implemented the new countdown when the old one reached one minute, we have precisely two minutes and thirty seconds before detonation. And we have to be some distance from the city to withstand the blast. We must leave within the next minute," said Red XIII softly, hoping he could not be heard by Raieyana.

"We aren't leaving without Reno," said Reeve harshly, "he risked his ass out there and we can't abandon him."

"I'm not going to have everyone here die because he could not get back on time," said Tifa, "when our time runs out, we have to leave whether he's here or not."

"If we leave, we'll all be fucking murderers!" yelled Reeve. "Don't you realize that? Raieyana, don't you have anything to say about this at all?"

Her shoulders sagged a little bit more. "We better leave now," she said softly, "we've probably waited longer than we should have." She looked away so no one could see the tear roll down her cheek.

The Airship took off, towards Kalm.

Reeve grabbed Raieyana by the shoulders and turned her around. "Why the hell did you say that? What the hell is wrong with you?"

She shook herself loose from his grasp and turned so she was once again facing Midgar.

"What is so damn mesmerizing about Midgar? If he comes out, it'll be too late, because you decided to leave. If..."

.

Reeve touched her hand. "He wasn't planning to make it out, was he?"

Her eyes glittered with tears, but Raieyana did not remove her gaze from the ruined city.

He checked his watch. (Twenty-five seconds.) The Airship was still moving away at a steady speed. "Ray..."

"It's not my fault...I tried to talk him out of it."

"You did all you could..."

"But at the same time, it is my fault. He told me he wouldn't have done it if he didn't love me. So it's my fault."

"It's not your fault. He made a decision. It'll be hard, but you have to realize..." Reeve's words trailed off as he recognized what he was trying to tell Raieyana. The exact same things she had tried to tell him...about her own death. (...it was destiny. Maybe if he hadn't met Ray, he would not die today...but if he hadn't met Ray, there is probably no chance that he would ever reach the Promised Land. At best, he would float along eternally in the purgatory that is the Lifestream.) "Ray, you can't have love without pain. It always hurts. That doesn't mean that love is bad. But pain is unavoidable. You gave him something special. You gave him something he thought he'd never know. You gave it to me, too."

"All I give people is death."

"Everyone who's born dies."

"It wasn't his time," she whispered.

"Who are you to say that, Raieyana? You didn't even know your own time."

"Ten seconds," said Vincent softly.

Midgar was no longer in sight, but Raieyana stood transfixed as a green glow burst through the sky and swallowed up the horizon. Devoid of all emotion, she silently walked into the Airship from the deck.

Everyone else on board was silent. Then Patrick, in Cloud's arms, began to cry.


	33. Epilogue

Epilogue: Three months after the explosion

.

_"Many years, many theories, but at that moment, everything just seemed to click. Why I was the way I was, and why history had decided to repeat itself. All the skills attributed to 'Jenova' were manipulations of DNA that Hojo had created when he started his clone project. He injected Jenova cells into himself and received some of the alien's innate powers, such as telepathy and telekinesis. Unbeknownst to almost everyone in the entire world, Hojo's first project was not Soldier, or the creation of Sephiroth. His first project was the creation of Lucas Shelding._

"Lucas Shelding was the perfect clone. He was 'his own person,' but Hojo implanted messages into his mind so that on the event of Hojo's death, Lucas would awaken the memories of Hojo inside of himself and Hojo could continue his life. Unfortunately for Hojo, there was something awry in his plan, and Lucas did nothing for over seven years following his death.

"Red XIII was correct when he said that Mako energy (or the Lifestream itself) speeds up the growth of cells, and that has something to do with the increased strength and endurance of Sephiroth, members of Soldier, and other experiments, including myself. When Laida mentioned that Sephiroth was really a 'clone' of Hojo, it reinforced the ideas that had begun to form in my own head. Hojo and Sephiroth were oddly similar, odd even for a father and son. The truth was, they had the same personality. Sephiroth was just raised to be a killer, raised without love.

"I had realized a long time ago that Lucrecia had been damaged by some form of mind control in the past. I eventually reasoned that she only allowed Hojo's experimenting because she was under the power of his mind manipulation. It explains why she would leave Vincent for Hojo and subject herself to such torture. So essentially, Hojo raped Lucrecia. It has been stated before that Cloud was the only thing left in the world that was anything like Sephiroth or a clone; I, the last Ancient, had returned from the dead. If Hojo would manipulate any new offspring to use for his newest experiment, Cloud and I were the best pick for parents.

"My reasoning gets a little blurred at this point. I think I may agree when Red XIII states the first Reunion was summoned by Sephiroth, who, as is explained above, was essentially Hojo. The second Reunion was also summoned by Hojo, in order to cause Lucas Shelding to want to experiment with the 'legacy' Hojo left behind, that is, his DNA. I have two explanations for the existence of Hojo's spirit in the Lifestream for such a long period of time. First, the more powerful a person's spirit, whether for good or evil, the longer the spirit stays in the Lifestream. The second reason comes from Cloud. If someone still living obsesses over you and won't let you go, won't accept your death, it usually hinders a soul's progress to the great beyond. Shelding was obsessed with Hojo...

"And so, Hojo's rage and basically, his 'bad aura' account for the rage and violent sexual tendencies exhibited by members of Soldier and participants in his experiments, although I do not believe that these characteristics could not be brought out in people who did not personally have those characteristics to begin with. Basically, Hojo's weaknesses were brought out in people who already had the weaknesses, and his strengths were exaggerated to the same extent. Thus is the explanation for the demise of Sephiroth, the 'perfect' Soldier. And the explanation for the survivors of the so-called 'Jenova project.'

"And as a side note, all the ex-Soldiers who became ill as a effect of the impending Reunion have now made full recoveries. Shinra has been completely obliterated along with any pure DNA samples of Hojo, Sephiroth, or Lucas Shelding. All Mako reactors have been shut down, and essentially, all power is supplied in the form of thermal energy and provided by the Alcor company."

.

"Raieyana."

She looked up. "Yeah, Reeve?"

"I...put Aeris and Ishmael to bed." He squinted at the screen. "How's the book coming?"

"I just finished the rough draft. Wanna read it?"

Reeve smiled. "I don't need to read it. I lived it. So, am I the dashing, handsome hero?"

"I don't think I mention you. This book is entitled 'The Truth about Shinra's Jenova Project.' You're not involved in that aspect of it."

"Cloud sent a letter to you." Reeve reached in his pocket and withdrew an envelope. "Here."

"Thank you," said Raieyana.

"If you need me, I'll be in my room."

"Okay." Raieyana sighed. Life still hadn't returned to any bit of normalcy. They had all basically returned to their homes. Reeve and Raieyana had actually returned to their ransacked home outside of Junon, with the children. Cloud had vanished after the Mako explosion, without a word regarding Patrick. (That's probably what the letter's about...)

For Raieyana, life was odd. Reeve asked no questions when they returned, just moved his stuff into the one of the spare bedrooms and quickly went about turning the other into a nursery. There was no more talk about marriage, love; there was very little talk at all. (I suppose he thinks that every last bit of my heart exploded with...with Reno. But I'm not living with him because Reno's dead. I decided...after the Amber Weapon, that I had to be with Reeve because he needed me and the kids needed him. And I loved him.) Raieyana tried to talk to him every night, but found herself speechless for the first time in her life. She opened up Cloud's letter.

.

__

"Dear Raieyana,

I truly hope that you do not think I am deserting Patrick. I just realize, as you must realize, that life is hard enough for a child without bringing someone like me into the picture as his father. Not only am I not the best role model, it will make him feel odd if your two children have Reeve for a father, and if there are any future children. I still will come and visit you all, but only as a friend, or maybe even an 'uncle' to your children. Nothing more, Raieyana. Try to make sure that he doesn't find out about his conception until he is ready to handle it. And then tell him I love him.

.__

--Cloud Strife"

.

(We have to make the right choice. We have to. I agree with you, Cloud, the truth will make him feel left out. I don't really want to lie to him, but few people know that Reeve is not Patrick's father. And I will keep it that way, Cloud, for your sake.) Raieyana folded up the letter and put it aside. She stared at the computer screen. (The truth...a warning to the future...but it could hurt my son...) She removed the back-up disk and deleted all the hard drive files. She opened her drawer and took out a locked box. She placed the disk inside next to Reno's watch, which he gave to her before she fled Midgar. And she took out a small ring box.

The plain gold band was still inside. She took it out and for the first time saw the engraving on the inside:

_"You will always be my Ray of light...forever. --Reeve"_

.

Raieyana walked to Reeve's door. She took a deep breath, and knocked.

"Come in."

"I...umm... Cloud's letter, it was about Patrick."

"I thought that's what it was."

Raieyana smiled weakly. "Yeah. Well, he thinks that we should tell Patrick that you're his father."

"What?"

"I agree with him. He's going to have such a hard time. I don't want him to feel like an outcast...from his own family. I want him to be happy, happier than I was. I want his life to be stable."

Reeve shook his head. "Being stable doesn't have to include lying to him!"

"How could you tell a little child that the reason he exists is because an evil man made Cloud rape me? Reeve...I...it was better for me to think Tseng was my father than to have thought my father some crazed madman."

"Tell me this first, Raieyana. Why are we living like this? You don't love me, you're not happy. Why don't you just go back to Undor-Hai?"

"If you want me to leave, Reeve, you should just say so," said Raieyana softly.

"You know what I want."

"And I've been trying as hard as I can to give it to you, but you won't take it."

"I'm not going to be your leftovers."

"Is that what you think? That the only reason I'm here right now is because Reno's dead?"

"Raieyana, what the hell am I supposed to think?"

"You know what," she said, "the only thing you have ever thought about anything is what you wanted to think. Believe whatever the hell you want to believe, because nothing I say is going to change your mind."

"What can I think? You cried when he died."

"I cried when Ish died, too, but you had no qualms about fucking me that very night."

Reeve stood up and faced her. "What are you trying to say?"

"That I won't live like this if you can't believe that I love you."

"You loved him."

"Yes, I did."

He shook his head and sat back down on his bed. "I knew it."

"Is there something wrong with loving someone?"

"You could have told me!"

.

"Yes, well," she said, "he knew I loved you and he still handled things very well."

"He had nothing to lose."

"At one point he lost everything. I'm sorry that you're too afraid you'll get hurt." She grabbed the ring box out of her pocket. "Here. I thought I could wear it someday. I guess I was wrong. Maybe you can pawn it and get your money back. Don't worry, I'll leave and get out of your life. Have fun playing with your money." She turned to leave.

"Ray?"

"What?"

"You...you kept this all this time?"

"Did you think I would throw it away?" She headed for the door. "I wonder how badly you think I treated you. I don't understand how you could have such a low opinion of me."

"Ray, don't go." He fingered the box nervously. "I...ah..." he started. He sighed heavily. "I can't answer your questions. Because I don't know why I always have to apologize. Because I don't know why I always treat you like shit. I love you and I would do anything you asked."

"Anything?" A coy smile tugged at her lips.

Reeve looked at her warily.

She walked over and lightly sat down in his lap. She grabbed the ring box. "I want a small ceremony."

"I haven't even asked you!"

"I never gave you an answer the first time. The hesitation had nothing to do with Reno. Honestly, I probably would have said 'no' anyway. You pick the most inopportune time to propose, right before I'm going into seclusion for a few months... I kind of would like to have a honeymoon and stuff."

"Honeymoon, eh? I think that could be arranged, right now."

She placed her hand on his shoulder. His hand closed over hers, and their lips met. "Love is a wonderful thing," she whispered, "you can give away as much as you want, and it never runs out. In a pinch, you can always make more."

Reeve pulled Raieyana close and held her. "I don't care if we just stay like this. We have all the time in the world."

She gave him an amused look. "You lie. For crying out loud, Reeve, you're acting like I've never had sex before. It's very odd, considering the first time you weren't cautiously holding back."

"Well, then," he said mechanically, "remove your garments and prepare for consummation."

She slapped him playfully and kissed him.

Reeve looked up into her eyes. (I see it. Love. Not the same as it used to be, because it will never be the same as it used to be. She didn't live in a vacuum, the Planet hit her again with its hardest blows. And she pulled through. But not without battle scars.) His finger traced the small scar left on her cheek from her fight with the Amber Weapon.

"What?" she asked.

"Nothing. I'm just glad that everything's over. And...this'll end better than the last story. This'll be the true last chapter. I'll never leave your side."

Raieyana nestled her cheek on his chest. "Yeah, like I've never heard that line before..."

.

.

.

.

.

.

THE END


End file.
